Woman indicted for allegedly making false rape accusation against JYJ’s Park

SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) — Prosecutors on Monday said they have indicted a 24-year-old woman who filed a sexual assault complaint against singer-actor Park Yu-chun, who was mired in a series of similar allegations, on charges of false accusation and attempted blackmail.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said the defendant, identified only by her surname Lee, is suspected of asking Park for money after having sex with him, threatening to go public with false claims that Park raped her.

Lee’s 32-year-old boyfriend and a 33-year-old local crime gang member were also indicted for allegedly taking part in the blackmail.

Park, a member of the famous K-pop boy band JYJ, was embroiled in a scandal as four different women, all working at local bars, lodged complaints against him in June, claiming he raped them. One of the cases dates back to 2014, while the latest allegedly occurred in early June.

Lee, the first woman who filed the case, dropped the charges, but Park made a counterclaim, saying she falsely accused him of sexual assault. He also filed charges against the second woman for making similar allegations.

After a monthlong investigation, local police said they could not find evidence of coercion involved in the sexual encounters. Still, they said Park is suspected of having sex with one of the women and promising some sort of compensation, which was not kept.

Prosecutors are currently looking into the case to decide whether Park can be charged with fraud and solicitation of prostitution.

Park Yu-chun, the troubled member of popular K-pop boy band JYJ, appears at the Gangnam Police Station in southern Seoul on June 30, 2016, to face questioning over his sexual assault allegations. After a monthlong investigation, local police said Park is suspected of having sex with a woman and promising some sort of compensation, which was not kept.