Park Seri's Father Secretly Stamped Seal... Due to 300 Billion Won-Scale Saemangeum Project

Establishment of Saemangeum International Golf School... Corporation Seal Secretly Made
Foundation "School Establishment Impossible as Non-Profit Organization"

Park Seri, a former professional golfer and director of the Park Seri Hope Foundation, has filed a complaint against her father, Park Joon-cheol, for forgery of private documents. It has been revealed that this case is related to a 300 billion KRW Saemangeum leisure facility development project.

Former Women's Golf National Team Coach Se-ri Pak [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 11th, the Park Seri Hope Foundation announced that it had filed a complaint with the Yuseong Police Station in Daejeon last September against Park Seri’s father, Mr. Park, on charges of forgery of private documents. Recently, the police forwarded the case to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment. The foundation’s lawyer explained, "Mr. Park secretly made and used the foundation’s corporate seal after receiving a participation proposal from a company establishing an international golf school." He added, "The establishing company submitted related documents to administrative agencies, but later we found out that the seal was forged and filed the complaint."

Furthermore, the Park Seri Hope Foundation posted on its website, "Director Park Seri has no plans or intentions to establish or attract an international golf school or Park Seri International School (including golf academies and locations nationwide such as Taean and Saemangeum)." The foundation stated, "We are preparing all possible legal responses regarding the false promotional claims and will do our best to prevent innocent victims from suffering due to false and exaggerated advertisements."

[Image source=Captured from Park Seri Hope Foundation website]

The Saemangeum tourism complex development is a private-led project to create a 1.64 square kilometer marine leisure tourism complex on Saemangeum tourism and leisure land. The Saemangeum Development Agency selected a preferred developer for the project in June 2022. The private developer proposed a 300 billion KRW scale marine golf course, wave park, marina, marine sports center, and other tourism and leisure facilities, as well as residential and accommodation facilities such as a yacht village and golf pool villas, including the establishment of an international golf school. During this process, it was reported that a letter of intent in the name of the Park Seri Hope Foundation, forged by Park Seri’s father, was submitted. The letter of intent included plans for the Park Seri Hope Foundation to lead the establishment of the "Park Seri Golf Academy," which reportedly received high evaluations from the judging panel.

Subsequently, the Saemangeum Development Agency requested confirmation from the Park Seri Hope Foundation regarding their willingness to cooperate in the golf tourism development project. The foundation later discovered the document forgery and proceeded to file a complaint against Park Seri’s father. Originally, the Saemangeum marine leisure complex was scheduled to open in October, but the project is currently completely halted due to the submission of forged documents by Mr. Park.

In a press release, the Park Seri Hope Foundation stated, "The Park Seri Hope Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that does not pursue profit and, according to its articles of incorporation, cannot establish or operate domestic or international schools." It added, "Therefore, the foundation has never planned or promoted the establishment of an international golf school and has no plans to do so in the future."

Meanwhile, the Saemangeum Development Agency is reportedly considering filing a compensation lawsuit and imposing restrictions on the participation of the developer who submitted the falsified business plan.