The South Korean entertainment industry is one of the largest in the world, thanks to its ever-popular Kdrama and Kpop.
But there are more than just those, because on the internet, South Korea also has a prominent presence. One of which, through mukbang videos, which have been popularized by many content creators around the world, but originated from South Korea.
And among the 'mukbangers', Tzuyang is one of them.
But in her case, she became the victim of blackmail and a possible revenge porn.
And what came after that, would later shift the industry in the fast-east ginseng country.
Tzuyang is known for being a 'mukbang goddess' with huge fans and followers.
The 27-year-old South Korean mukbanger on YouTube is also known for her extensive charity work. For her positive contributions through donations and volunteer works, her contribution to the community as an influencer has made her the Goodwill Ambassador volunteer services in South Korea.
Many admire her work, and fans were adored by how she could put smiles into people's faces, by giving back the community.
But just like pretty much everything, there are always two sides of a coin.
Wth the many fans she managed to captivate, she also attract haters.
And one her haters isn't just some stranger who knew her and envy her from what they saw from the screen.
It was revealed that Tzuyang was under pressure from what supposed to be a person who show their biggest support.
Despite Tzuyang being the woman people always knew, behind her smiles she showed the public, she was hiding a darker life.
In a revelation video, titled I Will Tell You Everything, she said that she has been a victim of illegal filming and sexual assault, dating violence, blackmail, and extortion.
And the person who did all that, her abuser, is none other than her ex-boyfriend.
As a woman living in a conservative society like South Korea, where intimate videos or photos can tear her apart, both personally and professionally, Tzuyang chose to hide everything, in order to prevent everything she built from crumbling.
She kept everything to herself, until she couldn't stand it anymore.
The revelation video was uploaded on July 11th, which publicized how she had been suffering from threats and extortion from her ex-boyfriend, who had acted as her manager for years.
What makes her case more harrowing, is the fact that it didn't only involved her abusive boyfriend, but also a group of other Korean YouTubers, including 'Cyber Wreckers'.
Cyber Wreckers are YouTubers known for trying to appeal to the public by being vigilante that brings justice.
Part of these were first revealed a day earlier in a YouTube video by 'Garrocero Research Institute' (Gaseyeon), where it's said that some well-known South Korean YouTubers famous for exposing people's private matters were trying to extort money from Tzuyang.
It features a conversation from YouTubers named Guje Yeok and Jeon Gukjin.
While these YouTuber claim to specialize in helping people, they also engage in online harassment or defamation to cause harm or extort money from others
And in this case, they have been using their influence for financial gain, by extorting money from Tzuyang.
They did this by leveraging her vulnerabilities, and by knowing her past secrets that she never wanted the world to know.
The YouTubers asked for a huge amount of money, which accounted to at least 200 million won in cash.
Tzuyang allegedly paid about 55 million won.
Tzuyang YouTube video was made to respond to Gaseyeon's video, explained the allegations from her point of view, revealing that her sexual encounter with her ex-boyfriend was secretly recorded, and that fact was utilized by him and the aforementioned YouTubers to extort money from her.
Tzuyang said that this has been happening for at least four years, and during that course, she had endured a period of hell.
The mukbanger revealed how her ex-boyfriend seemed like a nice man at first, but soon turned abusive. He kept on using the secretly recorded video whenever she tried to break up with him. Each and every time, he would threaten Tzuyang, saying that he would release them to the public.
"I tried to break up because he showed violent behavior, but he threatened to distribute an illegal video he had taken of me, so I couldn't leave him," she said.
With these threats, he silenced her and gained more control.
Becoming more dominant in the relationship, the already-abusive man became more abusing, and that beatings became more frequent.
It's revealed that she endured beatings almost everyday, and worse, it's also claimed that the ex-boyfriend even took her to an adult entertainment venues, like a hostess bar when the ex-boyfriend worked, and had her pour drinks for men.
All the money she earned, including the tips, would be taken by him.
Tzuyang used the video as an opportunity to clarify her past.
She said the events occurred while dating her ex-boyfriend, which she referred to as Mr. A, whom she met when she was a university student.
"Whenever I wanted to quit, he would use violence and threaten to reveal information to my family, so I couldn't stand up to him," Tzuyang said.
Tzuyang had no choice, because she had been forced to sign a contract, where the man would took 70% of all the broadcast revenue and kept all the advertising revenue.
So despite being a YouTuber with millions of subscribers, she never really earned her earning.
With the ex-boyfriend keeping all her money, there was a time when Tzuyang couldn't even afford buying the food for her mukbang broadcast.
The ex-boyfriend also tried to take control of Tzuyang's YouTube channel by enslaving her, and this happened after Tzuyang quit her job at the bar.
Violence persisted, but the ex-boyfriend would avoid hitting her face in order to not leave visible marks.
Some keen-eyed viewers did saw Tzuyang's bruised arms, and some of her subscribers had raised concerns. But Tzuyang always dismissed these concerns, saying she was just clumsy and she tended to get hurt easily.
Tzuyang began to speak up, when she simply had enough.
She was kept in a state of fear and helplessness, due to the gaslighting of harm that could happen.
But because the abuse was so overwhelming, to the extent that it began to affect her staff and those around her, she began calling a lawyer.
She sought legal means, initially to escape the unfair contract at the time.
At the time, Tzuyang filed a complaint against the ex-boyfriend for settlement money for the 4 billion won extorted from her YouTube earnings and termination of the exclusive contract explaining why she decided to press charges.
"Tzuyang's suffering was immense, and the evidence is extensive. There are 3,800 audio files containing the details of her victimization. As a criminal defense lawyer handling many cases, this one was shockingly severe. The amount of unpaid earnings owed to Tzuyang is at least 4 billion won," said lawyer Kim Tae-yeon.
At first, the ex-boyfriend went on a rampage, and sent her threatening messages. He even came to her house, and also contacted her staff, threatening them to kill their families.
"Initially, I was afraid that my weaknesses would be exposed, but with the support of the employees, I was able to sever ties with Mr. A," she said. "However, he then started threatening my family and the employees, and fabricated stories to spread to other YouTubers, which led me to file a lawsuit against him," she said.
Because of this, Tzuyang to go a step further.
As Kim Tae-yeon began to realize the entirety of the case, the lawyer offered her legal advice to file this as a criminal case.
Tzuyang filed both a civil and a criminal lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend, for habitual assault and threats among other charges.
Tzuyang simply couldn't tolerate it any longer.
The two sides reached a settlement in the civil case, where some of the settlement money was returned and the exclusive contract was terminated
However, Mr. A became irresponsible, and violated the agreement. This prompted a second lawsuit.
But things took a darker turn, when the ex-boyfriend took his own life, and this resulted in a decision of no right to prosecute.
In other words, the case was dismissed due to no grounds for prosecution following the perpetrator's death.
"We hope there will be no further speculation or misunderstandings regarding the parties involved, and we wish to prevent any secondary harm to the bereaved family," Kim Tae-yeon said.
Tzuyang, whose real name is Park Jung-won, had her condition worsened, and since the revelation broadcast, her lawyer said that she couldn't be reached as easy.
