UN's Choi Jung-won gets suspended indictment for threatening ex-partner with weapon

Choi Jung-won (44), formerly of male duo UN, received a suspended indictment from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on a special intimidation charge. He had threatened his then-partner in August last year.

After partner A notified him of a breakup, Choi made four phone calls. Then he went to A's residence carrying a weapon. "I will kill you. I will distribute the video," he said. Seoul Jung-gu Police Station referred the case to prosecutors in November on three charges: special intimidation, filming-related intimidation under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, and stalking law violation.

Prosecutors dropped the video-distribution threat charge. They found insufficient evidence and noted that Choi appeared to react in a moment of anger after A said she would expose his private life to the media—and that distributing the footage would damage his own public image. The stalking charge was also dropped; prosecutors found the two had communicated daily up until just before the incident with no indication A had refused contact.

A initially reported Choi to police herself, then submitted a statement of non-prosecution desire days later and asked for leniency during the supplementary investigation phase. The case bounced between police and prosecutors twice over roughly a year. Police re-referred in February without additional investigation citing A's refusal to cooperate, then again in May after prosecutors demanded messages recovered from Choi's confiscated phone. Prosecutors conducted their own supplementary investigation, re-confirmed A's statement, and closed the case on the 16th.