Pak Se-ri's Hope Foundation reports father for document forgery

A notice on Seri Pak Hope Foundation's website explains Pak Se-ri, former professional golfer and LPGA legend, has no plans to establish any golf schools in Korea. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Seri Pak Hope Foundation, led by former professional golfer Pak Se-ri, filed a complaint against Pak's father, accusing him of forging a private document. The case has been recently transferred to the prosecution.

According to the foundation’s attorney on Tuesday, the complaint filed against the LPGA legend's father, Pak Joon-chul, accused him of forging a private document to establish an international golf school on behalf of the foundation. Pak Se-ri established the foundation in 2016 to nurture upcoming golf talent and support the sports industry.

The foundation lodged the complaint with Daejeon police last September following a board meeting. The attorney added that the complaint was not related to family matters.

According to the foundation, Pak's father used a company stamp to sign a document to participate in establishing an international golf school, which the foundation claims was forged. The foundation also wrote on its website that Pak herself has no plans to host any golf school in the country.

Pak Se-ri, the most successful Korean player in LPGA history, has long been the face of Korean golf. Women's golf started to grow in popularity in Korea in 1998 when Pak pulled off a wire-to-wire win at the LPGA Championship as a 20-year-old rookie. Two months later, she went on to win the U.S. Women’s Open, becoming the first-ever Asian to win a major.

Pak Se-ri piled up 25 LPGA titles over the next decade.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she coached the women’s golf team, helping Park In-bee to win the first ever gold medal in women's golf. Five years later, she returned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to coach Ko Jin-young, Park In-bee, Kim Sei-young and Kim Hyo-joo through the tournament.

As news about the complaint broke, Pak Se-ri's past remarks showing her deep affection toward her father resurfaced.

“I started golf because of my father at 14,” she said during an appearance on an SBS TV show in 2015 with her father.

“I could come this far thanks to my dad.”

In 2022, she also mentioned on a TV show that she gave all her sponsorship down payments to her parents.

“I don’t even know how much I have earned, but from the news, I earned just under 20 billion won [$14 million],” Pak said when asked about the amount of prize money she received through golf.

“The sponsorship down payments are much bigger than the prizes, and I gave all of them to my parents.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, JUNG SI-NAE [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]