Victim's Side Anger Over Hwang Ui-jo's Sister-in-Law's Apology Letter as "Saving Hwang Ui-jo"

"Defending the Claim That It Is Not Illegal Filming"

Football player Hwang Ui-jo (Alanyaspor)'s sister-in-law, who was charged with exposing and threatening his private life, submitted a letter of remorse confessing to the crime to the court, prompting the victim's side to protest, calling it a 'rescue of Hwang Ui-jo.'

Photo by Yonhap News

Lee Eun-ui, the legal representative of the victim, pointed out on social media (SNS) on the 21st, "The content ultimately boils down to 'Actually, I am the only bad person, and Hwang Ui-jo is in a pitiful position,'" adding, "The letter of remorse transformed Mr. Hwang into a pitiful victim suddenly abandoned by his family." She expressed indignation, saying, "It unfilteredly included the false claim that the victim woman was aware of the filming, siding with Mr. Hwang's lies."

Attorney Lee emphasized, "(The sister-in-law's) confession and remorse cannot be seen as remorse toward the victim," and added, "Disguised as a letter of remorse, it blatantly defends the claim that Mr. Hwang is a pitiful victim and that illegal filming did not occur." She also criticized, "While not viewing Hwang Ui-jo and his sister-in-law as accomplices, their actions are intertwined as a community of fate," and said, "(The purpose of submitting the letter of remorse appears to be) a 'project to express remorse and go home' + 'rescue Hwang Ui-jo.'"

On the 21st, Hankook Ilbo reported, "Lee, the sister-in-law who was arrested and indicted on charges including violation of the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, submitted a handwritten letter of remorse to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 31 (Presiding Judge Park Jun-seok)." The letter confessed that she committed the crime feeling betrayed when Hwang Ui-jo tried to distance himself from his older brother and sister-in-law, who had been in charge of his management after his move to the UK. Until now, Lee had denied all acts of distribution and threats, claiming "I think I was hacked."

Lee stated, "My husband and I, who had a stable life, gave up everything in Korea and stayed abroad for five years solely to support Hwang Ui-jo's success," and confessed the motive for the crime: "During the process of preparing to return to the UK club last year, friction arose between my husband and Hwang Ui-jo over player management. I felt betrayed, thinking that my husband's hard work was not recognized at all."

She continued, "As I usually managed Hwang Ui-jo's private life, I discovered a sexual video with a woman on his phone, and I tried to use it to threaten Hwang Ui-jo to make him rely on us again," claiming, "I only intended to scold Hwang Ui-jo. I never intended to ruin his career or harm the woman."

Lee was arrested and indicted last year in June for sharing photos and videos on social media (SNS) showing Hwang Ui-jo and women, claiming that Hwang Ui-jo had relationships with multiple women and caused harm, identifying herself as Hwang Ui-jo's ex-girlfriend. Since May last year, she has also been charged with threatening to distribute the footage to Hwang Ui-jo, saying, "It would be fun if (the footage) is released, look forward to it." When the private videos were made public, Hwang Ui-jo filed a police complaint against the unknown distributor. The prosecution, after taking over the case, revealed through investigations and supplementary inquiries that the distributor was his sister-in-law, Lee. Meanwhile, Hwang Ui-jo was sent to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on the 8th on charges of illegal filming and secondary harm.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.