Korean Drug Drink Blackmail Voice Phishing Scam Sentence of 23 Years in Prison Confirmed by Korean Supreme Court

“Voice Phishing” is a crime that has hit many families in Korea. The Korean Court System, Korean Prosecution Services, and Korean National Assembly stepped up efforts to fight the issue with increased punishment and an increase in the efficiency of investigations.

A particularly notorious case involved a Chinese voice phishing operation that targeted the families of wealthy children studying at hagwons (cram schools) in the Daechi-dong Hagwon District in Seoul. The perpetrator of the crime was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

For more articles on Korean Criminal law please see: IPG Legal’s Criminal Law Archive.

Drunk Drink Blackmail Voice Phishing Scam Facts

1. Mr. Lee, a 28-year-old Korean man, was sentenced to 23 years in prison for violation of the Narcotics Control Act (stimulants). The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Korea in March of 2025 (2024do20836).
2. In April of 2023, Mr. Lee conspired with a Chinese voice phishing gang to extort money from the parents of wealthy Korean children. Mr. Lee convinced students to drink a drink containing Methamphetamine (Korean: Philapon) claiming that the drink was “‘effective for improving memory and concentration.” Mr. Lee, then, demanded money from the parents of the children by threatening to report the drug use to the police.
3. Mr. Lee and the Chinese voice phishing gang attempted to extort money from 13 teenagers and six parents. Six of the teenage students experienced hallucinations.
4. The Appellate court noted that: “The crime was committed under a meticulous plan to target an unspecified number of minors and extort money . . .The possibility of condemnation is very high in that minors were used as a means of making money, and the nature of the crime is extremely heinous, so there is a strong need for severe punishment.”
5. The Supreme Court of Korea upheld the 23-year sentence with a scathing dismissal of the appeal by the defendant.

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only a few non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw. Sean is regularly quoted by leading international media sources, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, France 24, and Bloomberg.

IPG Legal is consistently ranked a Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation, arbitration, and mediation services, and IPG Legal is consistently rated a top-tier law firm in corporate law, litigation, arbitration, franchise law, distribution law, estate law, family law, employment & labor law, and criminal defense.

To schedule a call with Sean Hayes, please Schedule a Call Here.