Comedian Park Na-rae is facing the biggest crisis of her career since her debut. Allegations began with abuse of power, followed by embezzlement of company funds and illegal medical practices. Park Na-rae expressed regret over the allegations she says are not true and announced a suspension of activities, but as allegations and revelations continue, the fallout is growing larger.
#Allegations of abusing managers, the start of the controversy
Recently it was reported that Park Na-rae was served with a provisional seizure application by her former managers for an amount worth about 100 million won. According to reports, Park Na-rae's former managers filed a real estate provisional seizure application at the Seoul Western District Court on the 3rd and, complaining of damages suffered during their employment, also warned of a lawsuit seeking damages worth about 100 million won. It was reported that they additionally submitted materials to the court to prove Park Na-rae's misconduct.
The former managers claimed Park Na-rae committed workplace harassment, special fraud, proxy prescriptions, and failure to pay hosting fees. They said she kept managers on call 24 hours for tasks like fetching snacks for drinking gatherings, cleaning up after parties, and forcing them to drink, and that she had them handle family matters, using them as domestic helpers.
In addition, one manager claimed they were verbally abused by Park Na-rae for not drinking, and said they were injured by a glass thrown in anger. They also said they had to handle personal medical errands such as hospital reservations and proxy prescriptions, and that event fees were not settled on time.
After the abuse allegations were reported, Park Na-rae's side said within a day, "Two employees who worked with Park Na-rae for about one year and three months recently resigned from the company, and the company duly paid their severance pay. However, after receiving their severance pay, those employees additionally demanded an amount equivalent to 10% of the company's previous year's sales," adding, "As time went on they kept adding new claims and continued to pressure Park Na-rae and the company, and the amount they demanded gradually increased to the scale of hundreds of millions of won. Park Na-rae has suffered great mental distress and shock due to the sudden resignations of employees she worked with, the ensuing groundless claims, the growing monetary demands, and media pressure," the statement said.
#One-person agency registration controversy
Alongside the abuse allegations, controversy spread over failure to register a one-person agency. Park Na-rae was active for more than a year at Anpark Co., Ltd., a company established by her mother, but it was reported that the company did not complete registration as a popular culture and arts planning business. Anpark was established in 2018 by Park Na-rae's mother and was originally registered as a service and event agency business, but after Park Na-rae's exclusive contract with her former agency JDB Entertainment ended in September last year, it reportedly operated in practice as a one-person agency.
But the agency did not register as a popular culture and arts planning business. Registration as a popular culture and arts planning business is required under the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, and corporations or individual businesses exceeding one person must complete registration to operate such a business. Operating without completing registration can result in up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.
In response, Park Na-rae's side said, "The tasks in question were handled by the former employees who raised the issue, and those employees reportedly falsely reported at the time that all registration procedures had been completed," adding, "Those employees leaked this information to the media after resigning, and through related reporting inquiries the company became accurately aware of the situation. We deeply reflect on the operational shortcomings and are promptly carrying out lawful procedures. We recognize the operational deficiencies and have no intention of evading responsibility for any wrongdoing," the statement said.
#"Did she pay her ex-boyfriend a salary with company money?"..embezzlement allegations
While Park Na-rae was denying the abuse allegations, another allegation surfaced within a day. This time it was embezzlement. According to a report on the 5th, Park Na-rae's former managers filed a complaint with the Seoul Gangnam Police Station accusing Park Na-rae of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement). The complaint alleged that Park Na-rae, as the de facto head of the one-person agency Anpark, repeatedly embezzled company funds over a long period by using company money arbitrarily for personal purposes unrelated to company business and by leaking funds externally.
The former managers alleged that Park Na-rae falsely listed her ex-boyfriend A as an official employee and paid him a salary under the pretext of monthly pay for 11 months from January to November this year, claiming the total amounted to about 44 million won. They also alleged that around August this year Park Na-rae transferred about 300 million won from a company account to help secure A's jeonse deposit. They added that Park Na-rae's mother was falsely listed as a formal employee despite not actually providing labor and was paid a total of about 55 million won in monthly salaries over 11 months. The complaint also claimed that from January to November this year Park Na-rae used about 100 million won from company accounts for personal house management fees and personal goods purchases.
In response, Park Na-rae's side told OSEN, "The claim that she listed her ex-boyfriend as a formal employee and paid him a salary is a clear falsehood," and, "This complaint, which contains absurd content, is an attempt to pressure Park Na-rae," they rebutted.
#'Injection aunt' appears..allegations of illegal medical practice
While Park Na-rae was refuting the former managers' revelations, now an "injection aunt" appeared and allegations of illegal medical practices were added. On the 6th Dispatch alleged that Park Na-rae received IV drips or had antidepressants prescribed on behalf of her at a regular residence rather than a medical institution from the so-called 'injection aunt,' raising suspicions.
Lee Se-jung, a lawyer at the law firm Lee & Ko, legal representative for Park Na-rae, told the media, "After comprehensively reviewing relevant materials, statements and conversations of the parties, and text messages, there is nothing legally problematic about Park Na-rae's medical treatment. Park Na-rae, due to a busy shooting schedule that made hospital visits difficult, simply requested a home visit from the doctor and nurse at her usual hospital and received an IV drip, and this is a legitimate medical service that ordinary patients also widely use," the statement said.
A representative of Park Na-rae's agency also told OSEN, "She only received nutrient injections from someone with a medical license," explaining.
Despite Park Na-rae's position, verification of the Korean Medical Association Organization's internal database revealed that the 'injection aunt' with the surname Lee is not a holder of a domestic medical license, intensifying the fallout. Performing medical acts without a domestic medical license can result in up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won under the Medical Service Act. In this regard, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "As this case has already been reported to and recognized by investigative authorities, we will monitor the progress of the investigation and consider administrative investigations if necessary," it said.
#'I Live Alone' outdoor bath truth?
With the emergence of the injection aunt, Park Na-rae ultimately decided to suspend activities. On the 8th she posted a statement on her social media saying, "As a comedian whose job is to bring laughter and joy, I decided to suspend broadcast activities until everything is neatly resolved because I believed I could no longer cause inconvenience to programs and colleagues," she said.
Although Park Na-rae announced a suspension of activities, the flood of allegations and past controversies could not be stopped. On the 9th a new revealing comment about the scene where Park Na-rae installed an outdoor bath on the MBC variety show I Live Alone drew attention.
Recently a netizen wrote in the comments of a YouTube video about Park Na-rae, "One or two years ago on I Live Alone there was an episode where Park Na-rae decorated her house alone. It showed her setting up a hinoki outdoor bath in the yard, but on TV it looked like she did it all herself. She had the company install it for free. They demanded it be done in just one or two days so the staff worked all night. But Park Na-rae did not even say thank you to the hard-working staff or offer a drink. The broadcast portrayed it as if she had worked hard to set it up herself. At the time I thought 'that's really something.'" As Park Na-rae is currently embroiled in multiple allegations and controversies, that post is also drawing attention.
#Reconciled with former managers? allegations of a false statement
Amid continuous allegations and controversies, an allegation that Park Na-rae issued a false statement has been raised, stirring further debate. On the 9th the comprehensive cable channel Channel A's News A reported, "Park Na-rae announced a suspension of activities and said she had cleared up misunderstandings with her managers, but the managers said they did not receive an apology and instead mentioned litigation," it reported.
According to News A, the former manager who sued Park Na-rae said it was true they talked for about three hours, but that they did not receive an apology and there was no agreement. The former manager said, "Haven't we been holding back for a month? When we said we couldn't take it anymore, Park Na-rae said, 'Then sue me,'" and, "I was outraged to see the phrase that misunderstandings had been resolved in the statement. I felt she met me to issue a statement. It seems like an attempt to buy time to change public opinion," they claimed.
Park Na-rae earlier released a statement announcing the suspension of activities, saying, "In early November two managers who were like family suddenly resigned, and until recently we were not given the opportunity to speak with them, which allowed misunderstandings to accumulate. With the help of many people I was finally able to meet the former managers yesterday, and while we were able to resolve misunderstandings and distrust between us, I still believe all of this is my fault and I deeply reflect on it," she said.
Despite denials of allegations and the suspension of activities, allegations and revelations continue to come in. Whether Park Na-rae can clear all allegations and return smiling as she confidently declared remains to be seen.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]