As accusations from comedian Park Na-rae’s former managers continue to snowball, a new claim suggests the uproar may trace back to a break-in at her home.
The ex-managers, who left her team in October, denied rumors of a settlement and alleged Park funneled wages to her ex-boyfriend and her mother, raising embezzlement concerns. They also claimed they were tasked with frequent drinking-related outings, forced to work excessive hours, and subjected to verbal abuse and workplace mistreatment.
Amid the escalating back-and-forth, a new wrinkle emerged: sources say the turning point was an April incident in which a burglar broke into Park’s residence in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood in Yongsan-gu and was apprehended.
YouTuber Lee Jin-ho, citing interviews with the ex-managers, reported that simmering frustrations over the lack of enrollment in Korea’s four major social insurance programs and the absence of written employment contracts were compounded when Park’s camp allegedly grew suspicious of her own staff after the burglary.
According to the ex-managers, after the theft, Park’s ex-boyfriend collected sensitive personal details―names, national ID numbers, and addresses―from two managers and a stylist, saying it was for employment paperwork. They said they later discovered they had been treated as persons of interest and that their information had been submitted to police as reference material.
Investigators ultimately arrested a third party with no known ties to Park, the managers, or her circle. Lee said the episode left the ex-staff feeling betrayed, believing the information they provided for “contracts” had instead been used to scrutinize them.
Park has retained legal counsel and is preparing to take legal action. Though multiple outlets have carried the ex-managers’ accounts, she has not publicly addressed the claims and has stepped back from all of her TV programs.
Police, meanwhile, confirmed Park has been accused of aggravated assault and of violations under Korea’s Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. She has filed a countersuit, accusing her former managers of extortion. Authorities said they plan to proceed with a fair and rigorous investigation.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)