The timing is too significant to call it a coincidence. There is much speculation over the mortgage liens set on broadcaster Park Narae.
According to the property register for a detached dwelling owned by Park Narae in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul, dated the 22nd, two mortgage liens are currently registered on the dwelling.
The first mortgage lien, registered on July 13, 2021 (creditor Hana Bank, maximum claim amount 1.1 billion won), is interpreted as a mortgage lien stemming from a typical mortgage loan, while the mortgage lien newly registered on the 3rd is significant. The creditor for the newly registered mortgage lien is Anpark, known as Park Narae's one-person management agency, and the maximum claim amount is 4.97 billion won.
The registration cause for the second mortgage lien of 4.97 billion won is recorded as a setting contract, and it does not appear to be a registration resulting from seizure or forced execution.
Industry sources are focusing on the timing of the mortgage lien registration. The 3rd was the day former managers filed an application for provisional seizure of real estate worth 100 million won against Park Narae at the Seoul Western District Court. The former managers explained why they applied for the provisional seizure first, saying, "she does not admit her wrongdoing. If we proceed with a claim for damages, she is more likely to dispose of or conceal assets."
The former managers alleged private harassment, errands such as proxy prescriptions, failure to settle advancement payments for productions, and abusive language and behavior. On the 9th, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station said it had received a complaint from two former managers requesting an investigation into Park Narae on charges of special injury, defamation by false statements, and violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation). In addition to allegations of abusive conduct toward the former managers, Park Narae is currently embroiled in the so-called "injection auntie" controversy over receiving illegal medical procedures.
In response, Park Narae stepped down from all broadcasts and halted activities, and on the 16th she released a final statement via video saying, "There are aspects of the currently raised matters that require calm verification of factual circumstances, and legal procedures are underway. I will not make additional public remarks or explanations during that process. I believe this matter should be verified objectively through formal procedures rather than being treated as a personal emotional or relational issue."
Amid these allegations, Park Narae has faced further suspicion after newly setting a mortgage lien. Interpretations range from a preemptive measure to reorganize her financial structure because advertising and broadcasting contracts would inevitably be affected, to speculation that she was preparing for the possibility of large penalties by securing against them, to the idea that it was a step to settle financial relations between an individual and a corporation.
Questions have also been raised about the operation of Park Narae's one-person management agency. The registered head office address has been changed several times on the register, and the most recently confirmed address is reported to have no signboard. As suspicions continue to surface, the controversy surrounding Park Narae is deepening.
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