Legal Battle Between Two Sons... Park Suhong's Parents Testify for Eldest Son, Not Park Suhong

Older Brother's Side Partially Admits Charges... Denies Embezzlement
Parents Consistently Represent Older Brother Couple's Position

Broadcaster Park Suhong's parents will appear as witnesses in the trial involving Park Suhong and his older brother's couple.

On the 13th, the 8th hearing for the older brother couple of Park Suhong, who were indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), will be held at the Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court.

Songin Park Soo-hong is making a statement while appearing as a witness at the continuation trial of his older brother, who was indicted and detained on embezzlement charges at the Seoul Western District Court on the afternoon of March 15.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At this trial, at the request of Park Suhong's older brother couple, the biological parents will appear as witnesses. Park Suhong will not attend this hearing. Last October, Park Suhong's father verbally abused and physically assaulted Park Suhong when he appeared at the prosecution for a confrontation investigation with his older brother.

Park Suhong's older brother couple has been put on trial on charges of embezzling 6.2 billion KRW of Park Suhong's appearance fees and other funds while operating two entertainment agencies, Lael and Mediaboom, from 2011 to 2021 for ten years. The prosecution suspects that during this period, the couple embezzled 1.17 billion KRW for real estate purchases, 90 million KRW for unauthorized use of other funds, 90 million KRW using the agency's credit card, 2.9 billion KRW by unauthorized withdrawal from the complainant's personal account, and 1.9 billion KRW through salary transfers using false employee registrations.

While admitting some of the charges, Park Suhong's older brother couple denies most of the embezzlement allegations, including the use of corporate cards and payment of salaries to fictitious employees.

At the 7th hearing, the youngest sibling couple also appeared as witnesses

Park Soo-hong's mother appeared as a regular cast member on SBS's My Ugly Duckling alongside Park Soo-hong for about five years. However, she left the program in 2021 following conflicts between Park Soo-hong and his brothers.
[Photo by SBS My Ugly Duckling]

At the 7th hearing, witness questioning was conducted for Park and Park Suhong's youngest sibling and his wife. At that time, the youngest sibling couple stated that they were unaware of the money paid as salaries from Lael or even the existence of the bank account, expressing their sorrow with tears, saying, "I don't understand why the younger brothers have to suffer and be distressed because of these matters."

They also revealed that they had cut off contact with the eldest brother couple, saying, "I don't want to know about this part (tax evasion, embezzlement, etc.), and (the eldest brother) did not consult me. The younger brothers were targets of exploitation and use."

However, Park Suhong's parents are known to have consistently represented the position of Park Suhong's older brother couple.

Park Suhong's mother appeared regularly on SBS's 'My Ugly Duckling' with Park Suhong for about five years. However, she left the program in 2021 when the conflict between the Park brothers surfaced. After the prosecution investigation began, Park Suhong's parents reportedly verbally abused and physically assaulted their son. As a result, Park Suhong fainted and was transported to the hospital.

However, in the previous trial, since the prosecution and the older brother's legal representatives each applied to call Park Suhong's father and mother as witnesses for the next hearing, there is keen interest in what they will say. Attention is also focused on whether there will be any change in the positions of the father and mother.

After the news of Park Suhong's parents being selected as witnesses was announced, Park Suhong's legal representative, lawyer Noh Jong-eon, said through a YouTube channel operated together with Park Suhong's wife Kim Da-ye, "Since the mother was not a subject of witness questioning, we did not expect her to appear at all," adding, "Including the mother in the investigation is painful as a child, so she was excluded during the prosecution's investigation."

Lawyer Noh added, "We do not know what the mother will say, so we are preparing countermeasures accordingly."