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Choi Jong-bum, the ex-boyfriend of the late Goo Hara, was sentenced to jail by an appeal court on Thursday, July 2, for blackmailing the K-pop idol over sex videos that may have played a part in her suicide.

It can be recalled that in 2018 Goo Hara reported to South Korean press that her ex had threatened to release her sex videos to “end her entertainment career.”

While Choi has denied releasing the footage, an online entertainment outlet revealed he reached out to them about Goo. Furthermore, the same news outlet showed CCTV footage of Goo kneeling before Choi, begging him not to release the video.

In August 2019, Choi was then charged by prosecutors for filming body parts without consent, assault causing bodily harm, blackmail, coercion, and destruction of property to which he received a prison sentence of one year and six months, and was suspended for three years of probation -- which both he and the prosecution appealed for.

By November of the same year, Goo was found dead at her home and even left a note that police described were about her “personal affairs.”

At the time, it was widely believed that she had taken her own life after being targeted by abusive comments online following the reports about the said videos.

Following the court ruling, Choi Jong-bum had an appeal trial last May 21, 2020, where he pled guilty to all charges except nonconsensual filming.

On Thursday, July 2, he was sentenced to one year in prison and was placed under court custody.

According to findings, his blackmail over the footage had “seriously damaged” the late star's reputation and had left her with an “irreversible trauma.”

Adding, “Choi was well aware that the degree of damage would be very serious if the sex videos were leaked, given that the victim was a celebrity.”

The court also stated that Choi isn't guilty of filming Goo during the sexual intercourse explaining that it is “still difficult to say beyond a reasonable doubt that filming took place without consent.”

During Choi's sentence, Goo Hara's brother was in attendance and said that it gave him a small source of comfort after almost a year in pain.

However, he added, “We regret that he was not guilty of filming without consent and that he was only sentenced to one year.

“When my sister was alive, she saw him given a prison sentence with suspension, but I think she'd be content knowing he had that suspension revoked today.”

Goo Hara's death comes a month after another K-pop star, (f)x's Sulli, committed suicide by hanging after a long struggle with online bullying.

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