Lady justice has spoken, or perhaps she’s long dead and buried, as the Lee Byung Hun getting blackmailed trial comes to an end today in a South Korean courtroom as the two blackmailing ladies got handed down their sentences. Model Lee Ji Yeon got slapped with a year and two months in the slammer while her accomplice/co-defendant Dahee of GLAM got a slighter shorter sentence of one year in jail. The court sentenced the two ladies after they admitted to blackmailing Lee Byung Hun by threatening to released a tawdry conversation they recorded and then asked the court for leniency.
The defendants raised mitigating circumstances claiming the blackmail was in retaliation for Lee Byung Hun’s making a play for Lee Ji Yeon and then dumping her. The court didn’t buy that explanation since there was no evidence that Lee Byung Hun had an affair with Lee Ji Yeon so the blackmail was chalked up to pure financial gain. It’s unclear if the sentences will include time served as the two have been in custody since their August arrest last year. With the twin dangers to society safely behind bars, Lee Byung Hun can rest assured that all he’ll have to deal with is public scorn and shame as Dispatch recently released the purported contents of some of his text messages with Lee Ji Yeon.
LBH: What’s for dinner?
LJY: What do you like?
LBH: You.
LBH: Is it going to be romantic tomorrow?
LJY: Perhaps.
LJY: Are you still filming???
LBH: Why not?
LBH: It must be nice to be able to choose.
LBH: We’re seeing each other tomorrow, right?
LBH: Will it be romantic?
LJY: We’ll see how you do.
LBH: I’ll be good.
LJY: This is a brain map.
LBH: There’s tomorrow, you, romantic, and success in my head.
LJY: What do you mean by success?
LBH: It means whether or not I’ll succeed in romance
LJY: Did you know it’s my birthday this week?
LBH: Then we’ll celebrate tomorrow together.
LBH: I hope you’ll keep this secret.
LJY: Don’t worry.
LBH: I’m really looking forward to this.
LBH: When can I see you tomorrow?
LJY: My mom’s coming.
LBH: Is your friend there today?
LJY: Yes.
LBH: When are you free today and tomorrow?
LJY: I have to go to cram school today.
LBH: When will your friend not be there?
LBH: I stepped out of line today. I’m sorry…
LBH: I think we should stop seeing each other. We’ll only hurt each other.
LJY: You’re cutting off contact just like this, huh?
Y’all can comment/vent/rage to your heart’s content over two female blackmailers getting jail time while male domestic abusers/hit-and-run perps/drug users/[name your crime] have been comparatively getting off with a slap on the wrist in South Korea. Justice in South Korea tastes just a drink made with the tears of gender and power inequality. Don’t get me wrong, blackmail is clearly wrong and against the law, I’m just sighing over the sad reality that being a sleazy douchebag is merely wrong but not against the law. In this particular case, for those wondering why nothing happened to Lee Byung Hun, if the worst thing he did is cheat on his wife, adultery is a civil offense that only the spouse can bring charges against and it certainly does not appear that Mrs. Lee Byung Hun is doing that anytime soon (if ever).
Sadly, this is a very expected outcome. I will never be able to understand how one of the most developed and richest countries in the world can have such a currupt and dates judiciary.
*corrupt and dated
I feel bad for those two girls. The idol especially was apparently in a lot of debt from her debut. One thing I am curious about is whether there is a difference in the sentences that male vs female perpetrators of crimes of similar magnitudes get. So a female drunk driver vs a male drunk driver, female murderer vs male murderer, etc. Maybe there’s something a little bit more insidious going on here than plain old sexism like the power differential between the wealthy and poor (I don’t often hear of poorer people pursuing prosecution for extortion).
This is the time where we need reporters like Choi Dal Po/Ki Ha Myung & In Ha in real life! Just like you said, blackmailers are wrong, but it’s sad and scary that powerful-rich-evil people like LBH exists in this world. I just can’t imagine what else he can do or been doing to other people *sigh*
if I may add…He’s a f&*))@&$* Predator!!! Ugh, there’s still so many things I want to say but since they’re not good so I’ll just keep quiet LOL 😀
Both these ladies were adults and played along quite nicely with LBH until things went south… what is predatory about it? Sleazy, yes, but hardly predatory.
@Rina
my bad, I think you’re right, I shouldn’t have called him a predator but instead a psychopath…a sleazy psychopath 😀
He’s not a psychopath either. Just a disgusting man.
Men have been cheating on their wives since forever. Doesn’t mean they are psychopaths
Where is the justice? Blackmailers get jailed while gf beater KHJ gets away scot free after breaking her ribs and she needed to be hospitalised? Just a simple apology and he got away? The last I heard was his ex was not pressing charges, what about the police? Isn’t there proof enough that he beat her up. Shouldn’t he at least be punished? He’s even making a comeback soon. Unbelieveable!!
It’s disgusting that Korean justice system lets rapists and domestic violence get away with their crimes.
Looks like justice just left, flew out and banned to come back in their country.
or maybe “Justice” is probably not even found in their vocabulary but instead “money” “power” “status” “men rules” were the only words that they can understand and abide to.
The fans is the most unbelieveable.
He is abusing someone and admitted to it! Caused physical injury. Aren’t the prosecutor do something.
Talking about PUNCH here!
What really makes me ill is that right now Dramafever is doing some sort of popularity poll between Lee Min Ho and Kim Hyun Joong. It looks like it is 50-50, with lots of comments about how “cute” KHJ is. Fangirls are deaf and blind…or perhaps just not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
I don’t know about disgusting, but certainly have different priorities from protecting your population from potential dangers.
Apparently, the results from being blackmailed are MORE serious than from being beaten black and blue with broken bones. Thank GOODNESS those two young ladies are IN JAIL because the world is so much safer now.
Meanwhile the admitted abuser gets to walk around in the world. Hopefully he/they can get help to prevent it in the future.
This wasn’t justice in any way. If it were the girls would have had a lighter sentence and creepy Byung Hun would have also gotten a sentence for his adultery.
He’ll screw some poor women over again and again and keep getting away with it.
In a way I understand the sentences, LBH followed through with pressing charges the women in the previous cases did not go through with it. However, they admitted to get lighter sentences and they get this much?
Also it feels like in Korea, there is pressure on women who sue the men, I don’t know if it’s vice versa or not, because LBH may be a special case. Powerful enough to not worry about his career when one of his scandals gets out.
Anyways the Justice system in S. Korean seems to be as corrupt as we see in dramas. If no one does something about it, the country with crumble.
Yeah, I agree. Of course blackmail should be punished but a year in prison!
For LBH this is just a sign that he can continue with what he’s doing and then get away with it.
I’m getting more and more convinced that his marriage is a contract one, she gets status and become a A lister and he can continue to screw women over.
It seems so as some people have gotten away with murder and a wife who has to kill her husband in self defense as he’s a violent drunk gets a long prison sentence.
Same here i find both sentences too harsh. And their careers have been destroyed and will come out to un unwelcoming society. Honestly that is punishment enough.
I don’t know if his marriage is a contract or not, but i’m pretty sure that his wife would be too scared to go against him. She may have gained status with marriage but it can easily be taken away and her career destroyed by him.
Wow. You made it sound like he did all those other things too (abuse, drug addict, etc). Had to go back and re-read it, lol.
Anyways, yeah, having an alleged affair is not a felony, but blackmailing is. The girls were supposedly ready to leave the country and take off with the money, were they not?
People constantly throw themselves at celebs and celebs spends a lot of time with other celebs making films…so honestly, is anyone ever surprised when these celebs have affairs? I’m not saying what he did was right, but it’s not surprising. And cmon, just because a celeb is married doesn’t mean people are going to stop pining for them.
The justice system is messed up everywhere, everyone has their own idea of what is considered a worse offense than others. Inequality like this doesn’t only happen in S. Korea, but everywhere. Look at the celebs and rich in the US, it’s all basically the same. The bigger, richer person usually walks away with a slap while the poorer people with the same offense gets jail time.
For cases like these, people would just settle out of court to have it go away, but LBH decided not to and won…guess he’d rather pay his lawyers than the girls who were blackmailing him.
Nope he never gave the girls money…. The girls planned to leave the country after they realized they were getting sued!
I hope they release the whole video they used for blackmailing! I’m very disappointed in Lee Min Jung though wish she had more of a backbone! Though I feel like part of the reason why she’s not doing anything is cause she’s scared he’d ruin her career…
All of these scandals really remind me of “Broken” (Korean movie about a father who went on to murder the 2 boys who kidnapped, raped, and killed his only daughter) and how sad justice is. In the movie, the public and police saw the father as the criminal and the boys as victims. Truly a remarkable yet heartbreak film. Another film along the line is “Silenced” (aka “The Crucible”) (based on a true story about a school of hearing-impaired students who are sexually and physically harassed by the teachers and superintended). Such a powerful yet heartbreak movie. I cried bucket of tears.
I really don’t understand the system of justice in Korea. The police seems a little bit useless, prosecutor very powerful, and the sentences weird.
I agree they commited a crime but it was their first time…
Dear sugar daddies of SK: Be reassured, you’re safe with us and can resume your activities aka sex for money.
I watched 2014 KBS drama awards and before giving Daesang, they showed clips of previous winners of last 10 years. The crowd cheered the most when LBH’s clip from Iris came. I was expecting boos after all the hate he got from netizens in last few months. Totally unbelievable.
Rubbish, the girls too were clearly interested and encouraged him.
She knew he was married didn’t she?
Both sugar daddy and the girl enjoying the gifts are to blame.
Let’s not heap ALL the blame on the. Man here. This was clearly not a case where the girl was forced against her will. She encouraged his advances and then got mad when he broke it off and tried to Blackmail him? She’s the one who committed the crime.
We’re blaming him because that’s all that we as the little people can do. The law system in Korea isn’t going to protect the weak and marginalized. They won’t hear our voices. But it gives hope to some that not everyone is blind to the faults of the legal system. There are people willing to voice their disagreement and be guided by their own moral compass. If you feel justice was meted out properly, then I congratulate you for living in a perfect world.
So what happened to the blackmail video? I woukd be so thrilled (not that I should be) if someone would post it up without getting jailed. Maybe some genius hacker like Ahjumma in Healer, lol. I wonder what’s in the video that he bothered to charge them for blackmail.
Ok first off I’m all for abusers and rapists to be punished by Law. Of course they should be punished and hard.
However I will not get angry over two girls being punished for the blackmail crime they actually committed. Black mail is disgusting.
What made me angry is that worse crimes such as abusing one’s partner and raping an unconscious girl were not punished and the guilty ones are moving on with their careers as if nothing happened. Does justice only work for females who blackmail?
I’m sorry that LBH is such an asshole and so sleazy and horny in real life (since I genuinely think he is a great actor) But he did not commit a crime. It is between him and his wife to sort out. He is guilty of being a horny old goat and was even sort of encouraged in his romantic advances (based on the translation of the texts).
Exactly, he is sleazy and a clear ass but didn’t commit a crime
Agreed, LBH is a shitty husband and sleaze ball. The public should be outraged that these women got one year sentences while a rapist is making a movie and an abuser gets to make a comeback. These women will will pay for their crime but what about the men who are not getting prosecuted? South Korea shows us once again what a misogynist society it truly is.
This is why I wish the Healer and Pinocchio reporters exist in real life.
And then PUNCH them..
This is my take on things the women should have been punished they blackmailed him there is no doubt about that they even admitted to it, there is nothing to debate about that. The problem I have is with LBH he is a sleaze and predatory in his relationships with women. This is not the first time he has been caught in a compromising relationship with a woman. Several years ago(2009) I read about a really bad break-up with a previous girlfriend that resulted in a lawsuit brought by her. He is just not a decent guy and the person I feel most sorry for is his wife Lee Min Jung. He is going to continue to behave badly with women and hurt her. That is between them and maybe one day she will realize that she deserves better than his sleazy-self.
Lee Min Jung is a smart capable woman with a career of her own. She probably thinks about her options and will respond according to what she thinks is best. Maybe she is OK with it and I for one will not judge her if she is. Nobody’s forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. So I don’t feel sorry for her.
Sadly, as smart as woman can be is as blind as love can make her and equally stupid her heart will tell her to stay while knowing better.
I feel sorry for the education women get to tolerate more than man. To be raised to be modest, patient and have an “understanding heart” for your family and husband.
I will honestly hope the many people commenting here, who apparently seem to think this is an example of miscarriage of justice, will never serve as jurors in an actual court of law.
Lee Byung Hun may be an asshole who has wronged his wife. He’s also clearly a wealthy man living in a patriarchal society. Still, none of those offenses are a crime, nor should they of course be.
The fact of the matter is that – according to the public coverage of the trial at least – Lee hasn’t actually cheated on his wife. He flirted heavily with Lee Ji Yeon, and no doubt hoped to get her in the sack. But the sex, in fact, never happened. Which is, in the end, the sine qua non of cheating.
In contrast, the two women actually committed a crime – and one quite a bit more serious than cheating on your spouse. I simply can’t understand how some here are able to view blackmail as a minor offense of some sort. There’s no material difference between going up to a person on the street and threaten them with a gun in order to extract money from them, and threaten to expose something they want to keep a secret in order to get their money. But cases are an instance of theft.
The fact that the person you trying to rob is a douchebag is very obviously not a mitigating circumstance. Obviously.
Sigh.
Sex never happened? It wasn’t recorded, that’s all. Men who are that generous with women don’t play go stop with them in hotels & sponsorship is so commonly practiced…
Also, there is law and there is ethics. Were the girls guilty of blackmailing? Yes. Now what I want is for the law to evolve in order to stop that phenomenon, from the client’s side. Wishful thinking of mine, I know.
I don’t know how you know that sex happened.
But I did take pains to write that, based on what has been publicly written about the case, before the court case, and now after, there’s no indication that Lee and Lee actually consummated the relationship. In other words, if you assume they slept together that’s either based on hitherto undisclosed inside knowledge, or your own speculation.
I am most curious how you are so Confident sex happened and it simply wasn’t recorded.
Perhaps you were there?
Don’t always be in a hurry to jump to conclusions and stick with the known facts please
Where you there? Stop spouting shit you cannot back up. Here is an opinion or non proven for you. They set him up from the start. Spread that too.
Summed it up pretty much. Either direct evidences or it’s just a conjecture.
C’mon now guys I thought you’re avid fans of Pinnochio?
First, I love DaHee’s voice and I pitty her for her bad judgment to violate the laws so carelessly!
That said, you’re right, @piggybackrider, there is no justification for their attempt to get money through blackmailing someone regardless of him beeing an A*. In addition, their defense couldn’t provide any or enough circumstances that would lessen their verdict (because getting free for blackmailing is out of question!). And moral or ethical consideration are not laws which can be violated and prosecuted in court. As shameful as they may be. If they had sex or not, who knows?! Just because it couldn’t be proofed doesn’t mean the model girl lied. And just because he is an A* and lied in the past doesn’t mean he had sex with her either. Even if, blackmail is still wrong. And one wrong can’t make other wrong right.
My problem is – similar to other thoughts here – that it seems that being powerful (and male!), acting like you went ‘from dark wolf to white sheep’ and apparently regretting your deeds gets you a free pass for almost everything. But being powerless, without money or connections (more so as a female!) gets you punished severely.
It FEELS like injustice – even if deserved – because of the other incidences how got away easily or with little punishment (e.g. KJH). Once again, justice is served with the girls, but I wished he would be punished for the things he done in the past,too. It would have been more satisfying and less hard to digest if he also would had got a scare or two from this incident
It’s laughable that in Korea, blackmailing is a bigger crime than assault and battery and raping!!!
Yeah this is what I get angry at. The double standards.
That’s a discussion worth pursuing rather than getting hung up about LBH.
This is the truth
Yeah, but isn’t he the very example for the double standards? Why not discuss him? He got away with a lot of stuff, because he’s powerful. But you’re right, it’s also possible to choose other great *sarcasm inserted* examples like Park ShiHoo or Kim HyunJoong to discuss how to get away with rape or beating women to hospital
I’m not that all familiar about LBH’s history admittedly, and though I could accede that he is indeed sleazy and ‘powerful’, however, this particular case is just entirely troubling to make a case of perceived gender inequality, if only we isolate it as an incident of its own, that is, without taking into account LBH’s other past misgivings, in which to begin with, is less about gender inequality, but more so about LBH being far more influential (being the case that it was against a male and not a female).
Judging from the text messages alone, it is fairly obvious that if there were any relationship between the two parties concerned, it was purely consensual. Secondly, though LBH himself is in position of power relative to the girl, still, it’s not as if LBH exerted his power to somehow coerce the girl into a relationship. In essence, there was no inequality whether in power nor any of the gender kind either. It was two consenting adults exchanging illicit messages and perhaps also meeting in an adulterous manner. Whether there was coitus involved, the defendant failed to provide substantive direct or demonstrative evidences to corroborate such claims. And even if assuming there was one, it’s once again purely consensual in manner. Again, no inequality is in play.
It’s perhaps hard to perceive, but LBH is the victim as far as this case goes. Do the girls deserve the punishment they got? Now that’s something worth discussing about.
Hmm i know that we dont know wht happens bejind the curtains and everything that happens are between a couple BUT how in the world is lee min jung still with this sleazebag??? Divorce his ass! Anyways LBH has always had a pretty bad reputation with many scandals being covered up…so im not surprised!
There is something I don’t get. Yes what he did seemed a bit sketchy, but why is everyone assuming he cheated? It is weird that he went to a party and was hanging out with pretty young girls and talking very comfortably, but doesn’t this happen in America with other actors. In America you see actors hang out with other celebrities, by themselves,when they are in relationships. What happened to make people judge the situation this badly when we weren’t there and call LBH names? I think comparing home to KHJ is pretty bad.Also the girls ptobably shouldn’t be getting in as much trouble as they are but I don’t know S.Korean law so I don’t know how great of an offense blackmailing is.I feel like I can’t judge this situation properly because I do not live in S.Korea.
When you say “cheated” do you mean sex? If that’s the case then yes, there was no definite proof. But a married man sending flirtatious texts to a younger girl is cheating in my book. The texts from LBH were clearly trying to be flirtatious. Heck, he even uses the word “romantic” a couple of times. Unfortunately it’s not a crime to cheat (unless your spouse drags you to court). Blackmailing however, is a crime and should stay a crime. LBH may be a douche but these girls were in the wrong as well.
You know what’s even more disgusting? What’s even more disgusting is that him cheating on his wife gets media coverage while him hiring gangsters to beat up Kang Byung Kyu is more or less ignored by the media. He is a womanizer and a thug and should have long gone to jail for what he did to Kang.
don’t like him…don’t get why he’s popular enough to make lots of movies….sigh
And that is an honest opinion fron an honest person, I guess! C’mon people, just admit it…you HATE him! Therefore everything else like “dead justice” or “corrupt justice” is just an excuse! You probably don’t judge his acting but his private life and his personality! It should be fine with LBH, since he has forgotten himself that his real job should be acting…he wasted his one true talent in order to grab power! But I am not his mother nor his teacher to be upset on what happened to that super talented young man and what went wrong with him and developed that bizarre perspective in life!But neither is anyone else! The comparison between different cases and different crimes of other celebs shows nothing but prejudice against LBH! It’s so much more liberating for someone to simply admit his/her antipathy for the actor, his long forgotten talent, his gangster friends, his contract(most likely!)marriage to a way younger woman with an obvious agenda(and, boy, so irritating untalented actress, for anyone who is not blind!)his flirting(or more!!) with other women EVEN younger than his wife…and the list goes on, I presume. I am so convinced that some day the true actor will be finally “extermitated” for good and none will be disappointed unless the ones that still remember the talented LBH…not even LBH himself!!
@superman a.k.n. kalel 😉
A statement I appreciate. Really! Nevertheless, it’s too simple to dismiss all the other negativ comments all together just as prejudiced one track minds against him and his acting talent.
IMHO his acting is not the topic here! It is about a legal dispute involving him as a PRIVAT person, not as an actor. Why should his acting skills be “judged” when he is involved in a lawsuit and his disgusting real life persona is showing again? Seriously, why?
It’s a little bit extrem to suggest to wait for the “true” actor to be “extermitated”. It’s not like you can’t find any other skilled actor WITH a decent personality. Because there is a lot of room between a common level of mistakes that has to be tolerated with any human being (and actor) and his real life behavior. And to compare other cases just shows a certain tendency of getting some powerful or well connected douchebags free without an apropiate punishment and not necessarily antipathy or prejudice specifically against him. The girls here are rightfully punished and he gets away like other douchebags. It seems so unfair. That’s the whole point.
So, for me the other comments are also “honest”ly reflecting opinions and not an excuse to bash him (or how we would call it in my region: a shitstorm against him! It’s not!)
Regarding not being his mother or teacher to get upset about what happened or went wrong with him is like saying not to be upset or care about anyone who commits any crime as long as he does his job fine. There must be a boundary between worth shipping his skills and respecting his privacy versus him hurting others and being rightfully upset about it. Or did I misunderstood your point?
Seems as though LBH has a problem with his sexual appetite. From what I’ve read about him, he has some very powerful business associates in SK.
Flippin ridiculous
Mrs. LBH is trying to win from this situation, and her ostrich act is like she is showing off to all women that he is hers, and don’t ever try to come near to my husband or you’ll burn not me. They deserve each other. She shouldn’t put her head in the sand.
I never understood why blackmail is wrong. If a person does something bad, it will surface sooner or later. If they have the money, let them delay the inevitable. Otherwise, don’t give in to the blackmail and move on. I feel like these girls should be rewarded for letting us know what scum this guy is.
LBH or BHL. The next T1000. Yay. Powerful guy with powerful friends. His wife is fine. Don’t feel sorry or bad. She is worth so much money that I do not think it matters to her. He is a man. Douchebag. All Korean men are Douchebags. Any society that is patriarchal in the 21st century is full of Douchebags. 99.5% of men Douchebags. Our world is f****d because men run it.