Home > National > Social Affairs

Court upholds prison terms for pair who blackmailed Son Heung-min via pregnancy claims

Published: 08 Apr. 2026, 14:30

A pair who face blackmail charges for trying to extort money from football player Son Heung-min appears for a pretrial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 17, 2025. [YONHAP]

An appeals court on Wednesday upheld prison terms for a woman and a man for blackmailing football star Son Heung-min via pregnancy claims.

The Seoul Central District Court's appeals division upheld last December a lower ruling that sentenced the woman, surnamed Yang, to four years in prison and the man, surnamed Yong, to two.

The bench said it would dismiss the defendants' appeals, ruling that the sentences were not excessive.

Yang was charged with blackmail and attempted blackmail for extorting 300 million won ($203,660) from Son of the Los Angeles Football Club in June 2024 after sending him an ultrasound image of a baby and threatening to reveal that she was pregnant with his child.

Later, between March and May 2025, Yang and Yong together attempted to extort another 70 million won from Son by threatening to tell his family and the press about her pregnancy and subsequent abortion.

Yong was charged with attempted blackmail.

Yonhap