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In August 2024, the Suwon District Public Prosecutor’s Office brought YouTubers Gujudang (Lee Joon-hee), Caracula (Lee Se-wook), “Jujak Gambyeonsa” (Jeon kook-jin), and Crocodile (Choi Il-hwan) to trial for extorting money by blackmailing the famous YouTuber Tzuyang.
Operating under the name of the so-called “Cyber Rekka Association” they were found to have systematically sought out criminal targets and used them as a means of intimidation and extortion.
The case has brought to light the seriousness of crimes committed in the country’s internet culture, especially on platforms like YouTube.
The Cyber Rekka Association and their modus operandi
The “Cyber Lekka Association” operated through KakaoTalk group chat rooms, where they would find targets, share their weaknesses, and discuss ways to extort money from them. In their chat rooms, they would say things like, “We need to get 200 million won” and “Posting a video won’t get us money, so let’s blackmail them”.
The group targeted public figures who were well-known to the public. While they claimed to be helping the underprivileged and delivering justice, they actually focused on extorting money through threats to expose the celebrities’ private lives.
Prosecutors characterized their crimes as “organized and premeditated,” and emphasized that they would severely punish those who exploit weaknesses to extort money.
The Tzuyang case
The most high-profile victim in this case is Tzuyang, a popular foodie YouTuber. After receiving a tip about Tzuyang’s personal life, Foot-and-Mouth Disease blackmailed her and demanded 55 million won from her.
He further demanded that she promote his acquaintance’s restaurant, threatening that if she refused, her private life would be made public. Eventually, Tzuyang gave in to the blackmail and complied with the demand.
The threats against Tzuyang didn’t end there, as the group also threatened to create and disseminate videos or content that would be highly damaging to her image if she responded to their demands. In this way, they continued to pressure her and extort money from her.
The prosecution considers their behavior in blackmailing Ms. Zi to be a very serious crime, especially because they used her personal life to solicit money, while presenting themselves as black knights protecting her.
Other victims
In addition to Tzuyang, the group has committed similar crimes against several other celebrities. For example, they extorted 22 million won from another YouTuber by threatening to expose the alleged fraud, and Caracula was blackmailed into paying 30 million won to take down a video related to the case. These examples show how extensive their reach has been.
What’s more troubling is that their crimes are more than just blackmail; they are organized and planned. They were highly organized, meeting regularly to plan their crimes and sharing them in real-time via KakaoTalk group chat rooms.
In particular, they thoroughly analyzed the weaknesses of the people they targeted and were very sophisticated in how they used them to extort money.
Legal and social reactions
Prosecutors are taking this case very seriously and are emphasizing that this was an organized crime, not just an individual aberration.
The Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office has used the case to signal a strong response to crimes involving the dissemination of malicious content on video platforms like YouTube.
The case has also shocked society, especially given the growing influence of content creators on video platforms such as YouTube, which has led to strong calls for self-regulation and regulation.
YouTube has become hugely popular around the world in recent years, opening up new opportunities for many people, but it has also brought with it a range of problems, including invasion of privacy, defamation, and the spread of falsehoods.
This incident has once again brought the issue of malicious content dissemination on video platforms to the forefront of social discussion, with many experts arguing that stopping these crimes requires more than just legal sanctions, but also strengthening the self-policing capabilities of the platforms themselves and increasing education and ethical accountability for content creators.
The cases of YouTubers “Gu jae-yeok”, “Caracula”, “Jujak Gambyeonsa”, and “Crocodile”, who extorted money by threatening YouTuber Tzuyang, highlight the ambivalence of video platforms like YouTube.
These were not just individual aberrations, but organized crimes that resulted in the extortion of large sums of money. These cases serve as a wake-up call to the crimes that occur on platforms like YouTube, and show the need for legal and social measures to stamp out such crimes in the future.
Prosecutors have signaled a strong legal response to similar crimes in the wake of this case, which is also resonating with society.
By considering both the opportunities and risks that video platforms present, we hope to create a safer and more trustworthy online environment in the future.
