Park Min-young denies playing role in ex-boyfriend's criminal acts

Park Min-young [HOOK ENTERTAINMENT]

Actor Park Min-young denied allegations that she received 250 million won ($188,160) in cash from her ex-boyfriend while they were dating in a press release from her agency Hook Entertainment on Monday.

Korean entertainment media outlet Dispatch made the allegations.

In September 2022, Park confirmed that she had broken up with a businessman named Kang Jong-hyun, who was described as a sizable shareholder of Bithumb Holdings, which runs the Bithumb crypto exchange. He was later arrested in February 2023 on multiple charges, including embezzlement and fraudulent transactions.

“Park had been summoned as a witness to the prosecutor’s office in February 2023 regarding whether Kang borrowed bank accounts under Park’s name,” Hook Entertainment said. “It has been clarified that Park had never participated in nor benefitted from any illegal acts. The 250 million won had been used by Kang through Park’s borrowed account, and Park never used the money for living expenses.”

The agency then said that Park had been subject to “a lot of misunderstandings for over a year” and requested that “anything that defames Park” be halted.

The same day, Park expressed dismay at the allegations on her Instagram.

“Sick of it all. But I believe that the truth always wins, and I am strongly determined to protect my beans [the nickname of Park’s fans]. Don’t worry,” she said in the post uploaded with two pictures of the actor.

Since late 2022, Park had been accused of being part of Kang’s criminal acts, as it was revealed that they had dated, and her older sister was registered as the independent director of Inbiogen, an affiliate of Bithumb. At the time, Park denied receiving any financial support from Kang, and her sister immediately resigned from the position.

Kang is now reported to be released on bail and is undergoing trial.

After taking a break from acting throughout 2023, Park is back as the lead in the tvN television series “Marry My Husband.” In a press conference for the drama earlier this month, Park said she had been “living with regret.”

“The only thing on my mind is to make sure I don’t get involved with other issues and that I do my best as an actor,” she said.

To learn more about Park Min-young, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]