A woman who threatened to disclose private pictures of JYJ‘s Park Yoo-chun was sentenced to 10 months in prison for blackmail Tuesday.

The woman, only identified by her surname Kim, was found to have blackmailed the idol, saying she would release private photos and text messages stored in the phone she found last February in Gangnam, southern Seoul.

The 30-year-old woman demanded 100 million won in return for not releasing the information, according to the Seoul Central District Court.

In the ruling, the court said that it acknowledged the significant distress and damage the idol and his agency had to go through due to the crime. However, the information was not distributed, and the money was returned, the court added.

Kim found the phone, allegedly owned by Park’s former girlfriend, at night in front of a shop and looked through the photos and text messages the celebrity exchanged with the woman.

The accused called Park and his agency, saying she acquired the idol’s sensitive information and demanded 100 million won from them. When Park’s manager met up with Kim to hand over the money, the police arrested her.

Park is a member of K-pop boy group JYJ. The group, composed of three former members of TVXQ, has gained huge popularity around Asia despite the controversy over its lawsuit against SM Entertainment. JYJ plans to make a comeback to the music scene with a new album at the end of this year.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)