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On November 10, 2022, agents from the National Police Agency raided the Chungdam offices of Park Min-young's agency Hook Entertainment, for reasons not yet disclosed to the public.
The raid started at 12 pm and ended at 5 pm, according to reports. It is unusual for federal agents to raid entertainment agencies’ offices and K-drama fans suspect the raid was due to the company’s owner Kang Jong-hyun, who is said to be Park Min-young’s former lover.
Dispatch had previously reported that Park Min-young and Kang Jong-hyun were in a longtime relationship. After the expiration of Min-young's contract with her previous agency, Namoo Actors, the actress signed on with Hook Entertainment, owned by Kang Jong-hyun, reportedly upon the latter's insistence.
Three companies, all owned by Park Min-young’s ex boyfriend, raided by authorities
According to a report by SBS, three companies, including Hook Entertainment, were part of the raid conducted by the National Police Agency. All three have a connection with Kang Jong-hyun, known to be Park Min-young’s former boyfriend.
While many netizens speculated that the Hook Entertainment raid was due to Kang Jong-hyun's involvement in the company, SBS reported that according to people with connections in the entertainment industry, it had more to do with trouble brewing in internal management.
The raid follows hot on the heels of the departure ban imposed on Kang Jong-hyun on October 27, when a Chief Prosecutor pinned him to be a person of interest in an alleged case of embezzlement.
In brief, about the Dispatch exposé on Park Min-young's ex
In September this year, Dispatch released a detailed report about Park Min-young and Kang Jong-hyun’s long relationship. Besides the relationship, the exposé also revealed Kang Jong-hyun’s numerous businesses.
Kang Jong-hyun, the president of several companies like Bithumb, Vident, Inbiogen, and Bucket Studio, made headlines for embezzlement of funds and financial corruption. It was revealed that he uses borrowed-name accounts to conduct his businesses and uses company funds for personal leisure.
He was also charged with fraud and forgery of private documents in 2013-14 and again in 2014-15 for borrowing more money than required. In 2016, he was booked for fraud yet again.
Dispatch originally followed Kang Jong-hyun for two months when they discovered that he was in a relationship with the Love in the Contract actress.
After her exclusive contract with Namoo Actors ended on December 29, 2021, she revealed that she was looking for a new management company.
On December 30, 2021, she swiftly signed on with Hook Entertainment, a subsidiary of Chorokbaem Media, led by Won Young-shik. Kang Jong-hyun has ties to Hook Entertainment and it is believed he influenced her decision to join the agency.
Park Min-young’s agency hasn’t issued a statement so far
Hook Entertainment has revealed that the Her Private Life actress broke up with Kang Jong-hyun after reports of their affair and his shady past came into the limelight.
They also denied her or her older sister’s involvement in Kang Jong-hyun’s financial businesses. Min-young's older sister is an outside director of INBIOGEN, one of the companies listed on Kang Jong-hyun’s business card that he is noted as a chairman of.
At the time of publishing the article, Hook Entertainment had not issued any statement regarding the raid.
