TV personality Park Su-hong's brother arrested for embezzlement

TV personality Park Su-hong [JOONGANG ILBO]

The brother of TV personality Park Su-hong was arrested on Tuesday on charges of embezzlement.

Seoul Western District Court said it conducted an interrogation of Park’s brother and decided to issue an arrest warrant following concerns that the suspect would “destruct evidence or flee.”

Last year, Park filed a complaint to the prosecution against his brother for embezzling money and not properly paying him while operating a management company that has represented him for the past 30 years. Park claims the amount he is owed by his brother totals some 11.6 billion won ($8.3 million).

Park said through his lawyer that it was initially agreed that the brother would take 20 percent of the profits while he would take 80 percent. However, Park claims the brother did not stick to the terms of their agreement and also used a corporate card to pay for personal expenses.

Park also filed a separate civil suit for damages against his brother and the brother’s wife, who operated the management company together with her husband.

Park expressed during one of his programs that he hoped to deal with the issue “quietly within the family through consultation, but had no choice but to take legal actions as relationships deteriorated.”

Park debuted in 1991 as a comedian. He has established himself as the host of various television programs including MBN’s “Dongchimi,” which he’s been hosting since 2012. He was also starring on the reality show “My Little Old Boy” on SBS alongside his mother until last year before the financial woes with his family first came to light.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]