Skip to main content

Woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for blackmailing soccer star Son Heung-min, a South Korean court said Monday.

The woman, identified only as Yang, was charged with extorting 300 million won ($204,000) from Son in 2024 after sending him an ultrasound photo of a baby that she claimed was his and demanding money to stay silent.

She later conspired with a man, identified as Yong, to try to extort more money from Son.

The Seoul Central District Court on Monday said Yang “lied” to Son, although she hadn’t confirmed whose child she was carrying.

The court said Yang denied the charges of extortion and attempted extortion. Yong, who confessed, was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the court.

The 33-year-old Son is among Asia’s greatest players. After a decade at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, the South Korean star joined LAFC in August.

South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported in May that a women in her 20s and a man in his 40s had been detained on suspicion of attempting to blackmail Son in June of last year while he was still at Tottenham.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
Read Next Story

Related Stories

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

Police warn families of Tiananmen crackdown dead not to visit graves on 37th anniversary

Women are the first caregivers in this Ebola outbreak and the most at risk