Woman says whistleblower extorted her, files criminal complaint

Agency denies any intimate conduct in motel room

Rapper Yang Hong-won. [Yang Hong-won SNS]
Rapper Yang Hong-won. [Yang Hong-won SNS]

Amid infidelity allegations surrounding rapper Yang Hong-won, an account believed to belong to the woman who accompanied him to a motel has been found to have liked a video featuring his daughter.

On Sunday, screenshots circulating across multiple online communities showed a specific account liking a video of Yang's daughter, Rua Yang, drawing wide attention.

The video was an approximately 19-second clip of Rua edited from an August upload on the YouTube channel "Yang Hong-won's Parenting Diary" and shared on a fan account dedicated to the Yang family.

Among the accounts that liked the video was one believed to belong to Woman A, who is said to have accompanied Yang to the motel.

That account has since been deactivated.

Earlier, on Saturday, Woman A acknowledged accompanying Yang to the motel but denied any infidelity.

"The claims made by whistleblower B differ greatly from what I experienced and remember," she said. "B demanded money and threatened me, and when I refused to pay, B went public. I have filed a criminal complaint."

She said she went to the motel at B's request, following Yang, and insisted that nothing happened. "He slept on the bed and I slept on the floor — nothing happened at all," she said.

She also said she had come to realize she "was used as part of a scheme planned to extort money," expressing a sense of injustice.

Screenshots of a conversation with B that Woman A made public showed B saying, "Pay me 500,000 won ($377) and we're done. I'll delete all your information." When A indicated she would report the matter, B said, "I was going to keep squeezing you for 100,000 to 300,000 won at a time."

B, who claimed to be an acquaintance of Yang, posted on personal social media on Friday alleging infidelity, writing: "A newlywed groom just went to a motel with a woman. Is that not wrong?"

B also released footage of Yang entering a motel with another woman, along with phone call recordings and messages sent to Won Hyun-ju.

Yang's agency, AP Alchemy, acknowledged the motel visit but rebuffed the infidelity claim. The agency said Yang had been drinking at B's home after a performance, and that after B asked him to leave, he was heavily intoxicated and ended up at a motel while looking for a place to sleep.

"There was absolutely no intimate conduct inside the room," the agency said. "The whistleblower threatened our artist and the woman involved in an attempt to extort money, and when that failed, made a public disclosure based on false information."

Yang has filed complaints against B on charges of blackmail, violation of the Stalking Punishment Act, and defamation through false statements.

Yang and Won Hyun-ju registered their marriage in 2023, becoming a legally married couple, and welcomed a daughter in November 2024. The couple has run the YouTube channel "Yang Hong-won's Parenting Diary" since May, sharing their daily life with their daughter. They held a wedding ceremony on Oct. 18.


jshan@heraldcorp.com