Man who threatened to reveal private information on Lee Byung Hun receives sentencing

The Seoul Central District Court revealed their decision on January 2 to sentence Mr. Chang (54) to a suspended prison sentence of six months if he did not break any laws during a two-year probationary period, as well as 80 hours of community service.  Mr. Chang was charged with working alongside TV personality Kang Byung Kyu to blackmail actor Lee Byung Hun back in 2009, saying he would reveal the actor's private life with his ex-girlfriend unless money was exchanged.

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Judge Ban said, "The nature of Mr. Chang's crime is not light for he threatened Lee Byung Han, saying he had documents in relation to the actor's private life . . . I took into consideration that he was unable to reach an agreement with the victim because he fled to China in order to avoid the police . . . Mr. Chang took part in this crime on behalf of Kang Byung Kyu and I considered the fact that this was an attempted crime."