A woman in her 20s and a man in his 40s, who are accused of extorting money from national soccer player Son Heung-min (33, Tottenham Hotspur) by claiming she was pregnant with his child, were arrested on the 17th.
Director General Yoon Won-mook of Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for the woman, identified as Yang, who is accused of extortion, and the man, identified as Yong, who is accused of attempted extortion, at around 8:30 p.m. that day. Director General Yoon stated that the reasons for granting the arrest warrants included "the risk of evidence tampering and the possibility of flight."
Yang was reportedly in a relationship with Son Heung-min. In June of last year, Yang sent a fetal ultrasound photo to Son Heung-min’s representatives, claiming she was pregnant, and allegedly threatened to reveal this information to extort more than 300 million won from him.
After breaking up with Son Heung-min, Yang reportedly began dating Yong. It was reported that Yong demanded 70 million won from Son Heung-min’s representatives, threatening to expose that Yang had received money from Son.
In response, Son Heung-min’s agency filed a complaint with the police on the 7th, leading to the start of an investigation. The Seoul Gangnam Police arrested the two on the 14th and applied for arrest warrants the following day.