CHA GA WON
A recording in which a person presumed to be CHA GA WON, president of P-ARK Group and representative of One Hundred Label, mentions having paid off gambling debts on behalf of singer MC MONG was made public, causing a shockwave.
A former journalist made public the contents of this recording on August 4 via his YouTube channel, claiming to have obtained it from a person “A” who was unable to recover their 5.4 billion won lease deposit from president CHA GA WON. The journalist maintained that this call took place last December, but the facts have not been verified.
In this recording, the person presumed to be president CHA GA WON maintained: “They say I was extorted out of 12 billion won by MC MONG, but I was extorted out of more than that. I was extorted out of about 40 billion won.” Then, this person declared: “MC MONG had huge gambling debts”, adding: “He blackmailed me and BAEKHYUN of EXO by saying: “If this blows up, you’re both dead.” What I paid back at that time amounts to about 20 billion won.”
The journalist also made public the contents of a related recording, claiming that president CHA GA WON, after her relationship with MC MONG deteriorated, called on a viral marketing company at the beginning of the year to order “reverse viral” against him. “Reverse viral” refers to the act of spreading content online in order to create negative public opinion toward a specific target.
MC MONG co-founded One Hundred Label with president CHA GA WON in December 2023 before leaving the company in June of last year. BAEKHYUN of EXO conducted his activities within INB100, a subsidiary label of One Hundred Label, before notifying the termination of his exclusive contract last April.
Regarding the disclosure of this recording, president CHA GA WON and MC MONG‘s camp have not yet expressed a position. A media outlet attempted to call the legal representative of president CHA GA WON on the 5th, but was unable to reach them. Previously, MC MONG had denied last June the suspicions of corporate embezzlement and gambling abroad in the United States raised by the MBC show “PD Notebook”.
In addition, president CHA GA WON was incarcerated on August 3 on suspicion of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. President CHA GA WON is accused of having proposed to the company Knowmerce a project using the intellectual property (IP) of artists attached to her entertainment agency and of having received 24.2 billion won in advance payments after signing the contract, without however executing the project in question. The court issued an arrest warrant after holding a pre-incarceration suspect hearing (warrant validity review), stating that “there is a risk of evidence destruction”.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Yonhap News
