Comedian Park Na-rae and former managers' conflict has continued to deepen, and a practicing lawyer voiced her thoughts on a series of incidents.
On the 16th, on YTN radio "Lee Won-hwa, attorney's case X-file," attorney Kang Eun-ha appeared and discussed the recent conflict between Park Na-rae and her former managers.
At the end of 2022, Park Na-rae underwent an irregular (special) tax audit by the Seoul Regional Tax Service's Investigation Division 2 and was assessed additional unpaid taxes totaling tens of millions of won. Regarding this, her agency said the reported taxes were paid additionally only because of differences in interpretation of tax law during coordination between the tax authorities and the tax accountant, and that this was not related to malicious tax evasion at all.
Attorney Kang said the most legally problematic point is whether salaries were actually paid to family members who did not actually work. Under tax law, wages or labor costs are recognized as expenses only if actual labor was provided and payment was made at a reasonable level as compensation for that labor.
He added that if family members were listed as executives or employees in form only and were paid despite not performing actual duties, this could amount to falsely recorded labor costs beyond simple tax planning, and could be subject to tax evasion or denial of unjust transaction calculations. He also noted that salaries paid to family members are classified by the National Tax Service as a typical form of tax evasion and are examined relatively strictly.
Regarding allegations that Park Na-rae engaged in certain acts with a boyfriend in a moving vehicle, he emphasized that workplace harassment under the Labor Standards Act is not limited to a specific office location. The key is whether it is substantially related to work and whether an employer or someone in a superior position used that relationship.
Attorney Kang said that actual precedents and Ministry of Labor rulings recognize company dinners, business trip accommodations, vehicles in transit, and even messenger conversations as workplace spaces or extensions of work. In this case, it must be judged whether the act in question fell outside the necessity of work, whether a superior position was used to force an unwanted situation, and whether mental suffering or deterioration of the working environment resulted. He said that if a private act was merely accidentally witnessed, it is hard to recognize as harassment, but if it is proven that in a confined space with no escape there was repetition or coercion, it could be seen as "workplace harassment."
Finally, asked what the most dangerous action is amid the conflict between Park Na-rae's side and the former managers, Attorney Kang said that hastily disclosing emotional remarks or materials with public opinion in mind is a very dangerous act. He noted that messages mixed with emotion, such as recently released call recordings or SNS remarks, can be used as circumstantial evidence in court or at the labor office and affect credibility judgments. In other words, actions that seem advantageous in public opinion can act unfavorably in legal judgment. He suggested that whether it is Park Na-rae's side or the former managers' side, refraining from unnecessary disclosure of materials or emotional responses and responding with evidence-centered approaches would be better.
Meanwhile, Park Na-rae suspended activities after allegations of manager abuse began and controversy over illegal medical procedures involving the so-called "injection aunt". Particularly, the former managers filed a petition for a real estate provisional seizure worth about 100 million won with the Seoul Western District Court, claiming abuse by Park Na-rae, special injury, proxy prescriptions, illegal medical procedures, and unpaid production fees. They also announced plans to file a damages lawsuit, claiming harm suffered during their employment. In response, Park Na-rae denied the former managers' claims and countersued them on attempted extortion charges.
Meanwhile, suspicions emerged that Park Na-rae received prescriptions for psychotropic drugs and illegal medical treatment from the so-called "injection aunt," who did not hold a medical license, and a complaint was filed through the national petition system. Park Na-rae is currently facing allegations including violation of the Medical Service Act, special injury, violation of the Act on Promotion of the Korean Cultural Industry, false statement defamation, violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, and embezzlement. Later, Park Na-rae additionally filed a complaint accusing her former managers of embezzlement, and a police investigation is underway.
Also, on the 18th of last month, Park Na-rae's former managers submitted a petition to the Seoul Regional Office of Employment and Labor Gangnam branch alleging workplace harassment. The petition claimed that in the closed space of a vehicle they were forced to visually and audibly perceive unwanted situations and argued that it constituted harassment using a superior position. The petition also alleged that Park Na-rae repeatedly stomped the driver's seat during certain acts and raised the risk of a traffic accident.
[Photo] OSEN DB
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