Former Olympic fencer Nam Hyun Hee’s love story with a supposed chaebol took a shocking turn
In a bizarre turn of events, the story of Nam Hyun Hee, a former Korean fencer, and her romance with a supposed third-generation chaebol named Jeon Cheong Jo has left everyone in disbelief.
Nam Hyun Hee, a 42-year-old former Olympic medalist, achieved a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics. She had been married and had a daughter but divorced in August 2023.
Recently, she made headlines by announcing her relationship with Jeon Cheong Jo, a 27-year-old entrepreneur and former horse racer. Jeon claimed to have transitioned from sports to a global IT company and presented himself as a third-generation chaebol.
However, the shocker came when it was revealed that Jeon Cheong Jo was, in fact, a woman with a well-established history of fraud. Her modus operandi included befriending multiple partners, convincing them to contribute substantial sums for marriage, and then vanishing without a trace, even maxing out her boyfriends’ parents’ credit cards.
Jeon had a knack for disappearing and cutting off all contact with her victims. To make her story more convincing, she hired actors to impersonate her biological parents, adding to the complexity of her scams.
She lived in the most luxurious apartment building in Korea, Signiel, and employed bodyguards to maintain the illusion of high status while duping others in the name of “attracting investments.”
She initially borrowed money from victims and, instead of repaying them, claimed to be investing the funds, promising substantial returns, sometimes as much as tenfold. If her victims became suspicious or threatened legal action, she would resort to intimidation, warning them that their principal funds would be lost if they ceased to invest further.
While Jeon Cheong Jo is currently under investigation by the authorities, many questions remain unanswered. How did she convincingly pose as a man for so long, deceiving Nam Hyun Hee? Did they share a hidden truth or was Nam Hyun Hee an unwitting accomplice in this intricate deception?
Nam Hyun Hee, now pleading innocence, has shared text messages from Jeon, who posed as a wealthy mother-in-law, asking if she had the confidence to join their family. She continues to profess her love, maintaining that her motives were not financial gain but a belief in a genuine relationship.
This story draws parallels to the infamous “Korean Anna,” where a real-life character, Anna Sorokin, posed as a wealthy German heiress, utilizing fake credit cards and forged bank statements to live extravagantly, leaving a trail of unpaid bills. She managed to swindle a total of $200,000 from banks, luxury hotels, and fine dining establishments before being caught and sentenced to prison.
Today, Anna Sorokin enjoys a somewhat surreal life, residing in a luxurious Manhattan apartment, painting, and even giving lectures at prestigious institutions like Harvard University. She’s a living example of how deception can lead to unexpected outcomes and enduring fascination.
