Lee Sun-kyun’s alleged blackmailer taken into custody

The late Lee Sun-kyun’s photo at his funeral held at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. Image: Yonhap via The Korea Herald

A woman suspected of blackmailing Lee Sun-kyun was taken into custody by local police late Wednesday, a few hours after the actor was found dead in an apparent suicide.

According to reports, Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency apprehended the suspect in her 20s after she failed to appear at Incheon District Court Tuesday for a scheduled substantive review of her arrest warrant. In Korea, substantive review of an arrest warrant is a process by which an individual the police seek to arrest may present their case before a judge.

She has been temporarily put behind bars before her scheduled warrant review, which will take place at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28.

The suspect is accused of blackmailing the late actor and extorting 50 million won ($38,700) from him. Lee claimed that he was threatened by the suspect and a 29-year-old hostess of a high-end bar, saying the two extorted a total of 350 million won from him.

Lee had undergone three rounds of police questioning starting Oct. 28 for alleged drug use, throughout which he claimed his innocence. The world-renowned “Parasite” star claimed to have been tricked by the aforementioned hostess into taking drugs that he thought were sleeping pills.

In November, Lee tested negative in both a reagent test conducted during police investigations and a comprehensive lab-based drug analysis of his hair samples by the National Forensic Service.

After the most recent 19-hour overnight interrogation on Sunday, Lee said through his attorney that a lie detector test should be used to determine who, between Lee and the suspect, was telling the truth.