Man, 30s, Faces Trial for Extorting Money After Social Media Exposures

A man in his 30s will stand trial for posting women's personal information on social media (SNS) and extorting money using it. Since April last year, Kim operated Instagram accounts such as 'Ju Club,' unauthorizedly distributing the private lives and photos of women, including those working in entertainment venues and the general public. He extorted approximately 50 million won worth of cryptocurrency from victims as a condition for removing the posts they requested.

Police identified Kim as the operator through website analysis after receiving complaints from victims in May last year, leading to his arrest and referral to prosecutors. During a supplementary investigation, prosecutors obtained threatening text messages sent by Kim to victims, leading to the application of retaliatory threat charges.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Investigation Division 9 announced on the 20th that Kim (34) was arrested and indicted on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, extortion, violation of sexual offenses laws, and retaliatory threats, for exposing the personal information of unspecified women on social media (SNS) and extorting money using it.