Journalist Arrested for Extorting Money from Aggregate Company Through Threats

Gyeongbuk Police Agency Expands Investigation
into Extortion Crimes Targeting Small Businesses

The Criminal Investigation Unit of the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Police Agency (Chief Oh Bumyeong) announced that they have arrested journalist A on charges of extortion for threatening a local aggregate production company and demanding money.

Gyeongbuk Police Agency. Photo by Byungkeun Kwon

According to the police investigation, in February, A visited an aggregate production company in North Gyeongsang Province and pointed out the issue of fugitive dust at the worksite, threatening to "write a critical article or file a complaint with the relevant authorities." Subsequently, A demanded 5 million won in exchange for covering up the matter and received 2 million won.

In particular, during the crime, A reportedly showed articles they had written on a portal site and presented a business card from a newspaper company based in Seoul, further pressuring the company by saying things like, "I will stop the construction work."

The police are investigating whether there were any additional accomplices involved in this case and plan to strengthen crackdowns to eradicate similar crimes.

A police official stated, "We will respond strictly to extortion crimes that exploit the vulnerabilities of small businesses," and emphasized, "Crimes committed by abusing the status of journalists cause significant social harm, so we will conduct a thorough investigation."

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