Pregnancy Blackmail Plot Against Son Heung-min Ends With Prison Sentence

Two people were charged with blackmail and attempted blackmail were accused of extorting thousands of dollars from the.

Son Heung-min was said to have suffered “considerable psychological pain” from this incident. / Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

A woman and man involved in a blackmail plot against LAFC star Son Heung-min were both handed prison sentences in South Korea on Monday.

Son first received contact from the woman—who is in her 20s and identified only as Yang—in June 2024, when he was still a Tottenham Hotspur player. Yang sent the former Spurs captain an ultrasound image of a baby which she claimed was his along with the threat of going public.

Seoul Central District Court charged Yang with extorting 300 million won ($204,000) from Son during this first wave of blackmail, confirming that she has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Son was again contacted by Yang who was now aided by a man in his 40s, identified as Yong, between March and May 2025. The pair were accused of attempting to extort 70 million won from the LAFC forward by threatening to inform his family and the general public of the pregnancy and subsequent abortion. It was at this point that Son approached the police, who arrested the pair in May 2025.

Yong was handed a two-year sentence after being charged with attempted blackmail.

Son Heung-min’s last game for Tottenham was in the summer of 2025. / Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

“After discovering she was pregnant, Yang never confirmed whose child she was pregnant with,” Judge Im Jeong-bin said at the sentencing, as quoted by Korean media outlet Yonhap. “Although Yang said she believed the fetus was Son’s, her testimony was inconsistent and therefore difficult to accept.”

The bench also claimed that Son suffered from “considerable psychological pain” as a result of the plot becoming public: “The victim is a celebrity and vulnerable to crimes, and the defendants used this to take a large sum of money, which makes the crime of an egregious nature.”

Yang’s attempts to unsettle Son were also addressed by the judge: “It was not limited to simple threats or demands for money—she went further by taking action, such as informing the media and advertising agencies, exploiting Son’s status as a public figure.”

Son was present at a closed trial in November to serve as a witness for the case but is yet to publicly comment on the news of the sentencing.

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