Authorities have accelerated their investigation into an anonymous individual accused of blackmailing and defaming actor Lee Yi Kyung, with law enforcement now taking steps toward uncovering the suspect's identity through newly approved digital evidence collection.

According to the police, the case has enlarged significantly with the court order for accessing the suspect's online accounts.

A report by AllKpop stated that the investigation started to gain momentum after new developments emerged this week.

According to a report from Dispatch on November 24, "a court issued a search and seizure warrant on November 21 for the social media accounts belonging to the suspect, known as 'A.'"

Additional reporting by Insight provided details on which platforms the search targeted. Officials said they intended to gather "key evidence, such as IP addresses and log data from A's Naver and X accounts."

Both Naver and X reportedly were cooperating with the investigation after receiving the formal request.

Per The Korea Times, the case first came into light on October 20 when 'A' posted an article on Naver Blog titled "Revealing the Real Lee Yi Kyung," which contained some private conversations and screenshots.

'A' claimed in the post to have had private conversations with the actor and published what they alleged were KakaoTalk messages and Instagram DMs.

The agency of Lee Yi Kyung has strongly denied the allegations. They said, "The claims were fabricated," and the actor filed a criminal complaint for blackmail and defamation to Gangnam Police Station.

The actor also publicly addressed the situation on November 21. He explained that someone "claiming to be German" had sent threatening emails to his agency and had repeatedly appeared and disappeared, contributing to months of distress.

He further stated that 'A' admitted within a day that their claims were fabricated, only to vanish again shortly afterward.

Lee Yi Kyung also explained rumors of his departure from "Hang Out with Yoo." He revealed that though the suspect withdrew their accusation, "he was encouraged to step down from the show," and the situation had really hurt him, especially when linked with a different "noodle-slurping controversy."

He finished his message by highlighting a belief in the investigative process: once the warrant took effect, "the suspect will soon be identified." He added that if 'A' truly resided in Germany, he would travel there to pursue a formal complaint.

Meanwhile, the suspect continued to display erratic behavior, now vacillating between saying the charges were "a joke," then claiming the pictures were AI-generated before later recanting the statement again. Authorities say identifying the individual remains their top priority as the investigation expands.