Kim Junsu's Agency Releases Statement Following Report That He Has Been Blackmailed Since 2020

Nov 15, 2024

Singer and musical actor Kim Junsu has released a statement following reports that he was threatened by a female BJ (broadcaster jockey).

Earlier on November 13, it was reported that the police applied for an arrest warrant for Ms. A, a BJ on the online video platform SOOP (formerly AfreecaTV) on charges of extortion under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Ms. A is accused of extorting approximately 840 million KRW (approximately $602,323) from Kim Junsu through 101 instances of threats from September 2020 to last month. According to the report, Ms. A first became acquainted with Kim Junsu in 2019, recorded their conversations and audio, and then threatened to distribute these recordings on social media to extort money and valuables.

On November 15, the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency announced that they arrested and forwarded Ms. A to the prosecution on the mentioned charges. A representative from the police briefly remarked, “It is true that we are investigating Ms. A, but since it is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further.”

Later that day, Kim Junsu’s agency Palm Tree Island released the following statement:

"Hello, this is Palm Tree Island.

First, we would like to provide an official statement regarding our artist Kim Junsu.

As recently reported, Ms. A illegally recorded a conversation with Kim Junsu with malicious intent and threatened to distribute it on social media. Ms. A continued her threats by saying, “Even though I know Kim Junsu did nothing wrong, a single false article can tarnish a celebrity’s image, and since Kim Junsu is already unable to appear on broadcasts, he won’t be able to recover his image. But I have nothing to lose.”

Ms. A has been exploiting Kim Junsu’s status as a celebrity to continue these threats, fully aware that the public’s attention can be manipulated. Despite knowing that Kim Junsu is innocent, Ms. A has not ceased her malicious actions, taking advantage of Kim Junsu’s position as a public figure.

We want to make it clear that Kim Junsu is a definite victim in this case. Upon discovering that there are multiple victims of Ms. A’s extortion and threats, Kim Junsu decided to take legal action to prevent further harm.

Currently, the case is at the court warrant hearing stage, so we ask for your understanding that we cannot provide detailed explanations at this time. We will issue additional statements once the investigation and trial are concluded. We hope this incident raises awareness about the severity and malicious nature of such extortion and threats, and we promise to respond firmly until the end.

Lastly, we want to reiterate that Kim Junsu has not committed any illegal or criminal acts related to this incident and is clearly a victim.

Thank you."

Source: Soompi