This screengrab shows YouTuber Tzuyang in a video she posted detailing her assault and exploitation. Image: Yonhap via The Korea Herald Following YouTuber Tzuyang ‘s recent revelation about her being assaulted and financially exploited by her former boyfriend for four years, a group of YouTubers were suspected to have blackmailed her for money in exchange for keeping quiet about her past. The revelation shocked and angered viewers over what many are calling the moral bankruptcy of the so-called “cyber wreckers,” who make a profit by posting rumors or negative news about celebrities often in a maliciously edited form.
The term derives from tow trucks, or wreckers, likening the actions of the posters to privately run tow trucks that flash their lights and use sirens despite not being state-approved emergency vehicles. A recently revealed recording suggested that YouTuber Gu Je Yeok, whose real name is Lee Jun-hee, had blackmailed Tzuyang (real name: Park Jung-won), with fellow YouTubers Caracula, and Jeon Gukjin potentially involved. It captured Lee discussing with the other two about making money off Park’s painful past.
In the recording, Lee told the others that Park had already paid him 11 million won ($8,000) to keep quiet about her past, and the others advised him about further attacking one of the most profitable domestic YouTube channels. They suggested that it would be better to have Park “take care of them” rather than to release a video about her past, say.
