"To My Eldest Brother, Me and My Younger Brother Are Exploitation Targets" Park Soo-hong's Youngest Brother's Resolute Statement

Testimony at the 7th Trial of Park Soo-hong's Eldest Brother and Spouse on Embezzlement Charges
"Park Soo-hong Sobbed"... Eldest Brother's Side Denies Most Allegations

[Photo by Yonhap News]

The youngest brother of broadcaster Park Su-hong attended the trial of Park Su-hong’s eldest brother and his wife, who were indicted on charges of embezzling Park Su-hong’s appearance fees and other funds, as a witness and claimed that "(to the eldest brother) the younger siblings are objects of exploitation."

On the afternoon of the 9th, Park Su-hong’s younger brother and his wife appeared as witnesses at the 7th hearing of the case against Park Su-hong’s eldest brother and his wife for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement), held at the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Bae Seong-jung). Park Su-hong is the second of three brothers, and the younger brother who testified at the trial is the youngest sibling.

Park Su-hong’s eldest brother and his wife are accused of embezzling a total of 6.17 billion KRW from company funds and Park Su-hong’s personal funds over a period of 10 years from 2011 to 2020 while managing Park Su-hong’s management exclusively.

It was confirmed that accounts under the names of the youngest brother Park and his wife were also used in this process. However, at the trial, the younger brother Park testified that he was not even aware that accounts had been opened under their names and only found out after the lawsuit began.

He claimed, "The first time I saw the account opened under my name was in 2020," and added, "I first learned about it a few months before this case was made public in the media when Park Su-hong came to me and told me there was a property dispute with the eldest brother." He further speculated, "I think the eldest brother opened the account when I lent my ID while working at the wedding business Park Su-hong used to run." He also said, "I did not get along with the eldest brother in terms of work style and had many personal conflicts, so I did not meet him directly for about eight years from 2010," and expressed, "I cannot understand why the younger siblings have to suffer because of this. I felt that the eldest brother only saw the younger brothers (including Park Su-hong and me) as objects of exploitation." His wife also appeared as a witness and testified to the same effect.

In response, the eldest brother’s side presented text message conversations from mobile phones as evidence and rebutted that the claims of the youngest brother and his wife were not true. It was reported that the conversation included indications that the youngest brother and his wife were aware that they were receiving salaries through the relevant account.

Meanwhile, after the trial, attorney No Jong-eon from the law firm representing Park Su-hong said, "It is meaningful that this is the first testimony in favor of Park Su-hong from within the family." Regarding Park Su-hong’s reaction, he said, "(Park Su-hong) was said to have sobbed after hearing his younger brother’s story."

Meanwhile, the prosecution suspects that the eldest brother Park illegally withdrew 2.9 billion KRW from Park Su-hong’s personal account, falsely recorded 1.9 billion KRW in labor costs, embezzled 1.17 billion KRW through real estate purchases, and diverted 180 million KRW from company funds through credit card payments and other methods.

The eldest brother’s side denies most of the charges but admits only to withdrawing 15 million KRW and 22 million KRW from the company’s corporate account in April and October 2021, respectively, to pay for attorney fees. The eldest brother Park was indicted while in custody but was released on April 7 due to the expiration of the detention period and is currently standing trial with his wife without detention.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.