Wife Indicted Alongside Him Receives Suspended Prison Sentence
Park Suhong (55), a broadcaster, saw his older brother Park (57) sentenced to prison and taken into custody by the court of appeals for embezzling tens of billions of won from his management agency's funds and other sources.
On December 19, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jaegwon, sentenced Park to three years and six months in prison and ordered him to be taken into custody, after he was indicted on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
For his wife Lee (54), who was indicted alongside him, the court overturned the lower court’s not-guilty verdict and sentenced her to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to complete 120 hours of community service.
The court stated, “Given the methods Park used to commit the crime, the nature of the offense is extremely egregious,” explaining the reasoning behind the sentencing.
The fact that Park consistently claimed he was not involved in the company’s operations and maintained excuses such as not knowing he was not allowed to use the corporate card for personal purposes also worked against him in sentencing.
In October 2022, Park was brought to trial on charges of embezzling tens of billions of won from the company and his younger brother’s personal funds while exclusively managing Park Suhong’s career from 2011 to 2021. His wife Lee was also indicted without detention for allegedly participating in some of the embezzlement.
In February last year, the first trial at the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Park to two years in prison and found Lee not guilty. At that time, the court did not take Park into custody, considering there was no risk of flight or evidence destruction.
The first trial court recognized only part of the allegations, finding Park guilty of embezzling 2 billion won from company funds. However, it acquitted him of the charge of misappropriating about 1.6 billion won of Park Suhong’s personal funds.
At the sentencing hearing held last month in the appeals court, prosecutors requested seven years in prison for Park and three years for Lee. Prosecutors argued, “Park repeatedly embezzled large sums of money over an extended period, falsely claiming it was used for Park Suhong while concealing the actual use of funds, and no restitution has been made. Despite the possibility that his actions could damage the public image of celebrity Park Suhong, the defendant has shown poor attitude by blaming the victim.”
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