(Yonhap News)

Actor Lee Byung-hun warned Monday that he would take legal action against unverified news reports and rumors concerning his blackmail case.

Lee was allegedly blackmailed by model Lee Ji-yeon and 21-year-old girl group GLAM member Kim Dae-hee for 5 billion won ($4.7 million) with video footage that the women secretly took of him. The prosecution has requested three-year jail terms for the defendants.

On Monday, Lee’s management company stated that they will take legal action against reports based solely on the claims made by the defendants. The statement follows news reports containing messages supposedly exchanged between Lee and the model.

The report claimed that the actor first approached the model with an offer for financial support.

In response, Lee’s management company said that the unverified reports were unfortunate and that they will also take action against the source of the information.

“(The company) will seek out the source of the information, (who) intentionally provided false information ahead of the court ruling,” the company said.

“Once the ruling is made in 10 days, the whole truth will be revealed. (The rumors) are not worth responding to individually.”

(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)