"I am so sorry. I tried to live somehow, but how do I beat Chosun Ilbo and Bang Yong Hoon?"

- Bang Yong Hoon's brother, Bang Sang Hoon, owns Chosun Ilbo and Bang himself holds a 10.7% stake in the company, making him one of the major shareholders.

Most of us know Bang Yong Hoon in relation to either the rape-suicide case of Jang Ja Yeon, or because of his wife's suicide and her accusations of abuse. Today, we're going to look deeper into the latter.

On the 2nd of September, 2016 a construction worker phones the police after finding a floating body in the Han River near Gayang Bridge. After pulling the body from the water, police are quick to conclude the person in question is Lee Mi Ran, wife of Koreana Hotel CEOBang Yong Hoon.

“Seoul police had received a report from relatives of Bang’s wife who had called in after receiving text messages from her warning of a suicide attempt,” said a local police officer in Goyang. “So that’s how police first suspected it may have been Bang’s wife."

These text messages had been sent on the 1st of September, right before Mi Ran ended her own life. In these texts, photo copies of her suicide letter were included with the caption 'I will not let my husband get rid of this'. After having contacted the police, the family immediately went out to search for Mi Ran.

At 3:12 am the police received another phone call. This time from an employee of the Banghwa Bridge managment company, who reported an abandoned Lexus on the bridge. When the police went out to the scene, they found a seven page long suicide note in the car and immediately went searching for a body. They had to give up, however, after turning up nothing.

“We searched all night and day for the body, but a body usually sinks to the ground and takes about a day for it to float to the surface as it begins to decompose.”

The police did mention from the very beginning the didn't want to bind the name 'Koreana Hotel' to the suicide case. 

“The case should be dealt with as an individual suicide attempt,” said a police officer on the condition of anonymity.

Mi Ran's body was found about 2 to 3 km/1.2 to 1.8 miles from where her car was found. A couple of days later, her body was released to Bang, and one day after, he cremated her without notifying her family. Her family was enraged at this, since Bang didn't even come out to search for his wife, did not discuss her cremation before hand with them and did not hold a funeral ceremony for her. The latter point Bang claims is untrue as he says he did hold a funeral ceremony for her. Which would mean he just didn't invite Mi Ran's family.



The reason Mi Ran gave for her suicide in the note, is the abuse she endured at the hands of her husband and children.

"During our fights, I was beaten by my husband, I heard all kinds of bad words, I was scared. Even if I lived like an invisible person in the basement for four months, I endured it but after I was forcibly kicked out, I started to crumble"

“If I fail at my attempt and survive, I am more afraid of what cruel treatment my husband they call Bang Yong Hoon will do to me from behind than my determination to die.”

On the 29th of April, Bang and Mi Ran got into a fight. In her suicide note, she spoke about how he hit her during the fight and how she wanted to know what she had done to deserve that type of abuse. After this fight, Mi Ran was forced to live in the basement.

A former housekeeper for the family described the situation for Mi Ran during the time she lived in the basement.

"It was hell. Everytime I saw her, she was wandering hell."

"They (the family) would have a party with their friends on the 1st floor eating food and laughing, but the madam would eat 2 sweet potatoes and 2 eggs in the morning. Later, her stomach was so empty a stench came from her mouth."

For four months, Mi Ran lived like this. Until the 22nd of August, 2016.

On this day, Mi Ran called her sister up to tell her she was in trouble. She told Mi Kyeong two of her children had arranged for her to be picked up by the private ambulance and that she needed Mi Kyeong's help. Mi Kyeong called the police, who arrived at a rather hostile scene. The officers dispatched talked about the children and their mother didn't seem to get along. But the children tell the officers that they don't want to send their mother to the hospital after all and cancel the ambulance.

When the police left, however, the children become more violent in their ways of getting Mi Ran out of the house. They call up the ambulance again and try to use force to get Mi Ran out of the house. She tries to film the situation with her phone, but the children take away her phone and throw it in the toilet. One of the housekeepers looked out of the window when she heard Mi Ran scream and

described she saw two people dragging Mi Ran away by her legs.

Here's is where the story of events take two different directions. Her children and Bang claim they called the ambulance to take Mi Ran to her parent's house, due to her depression.

"At the time, she was depressed and she attempted suicide, we thought the best option to prevent our mother's suicide is to let her rest at her mother's home instead of having her live by herself in the basement."

Bang backed his children's statement up with the claim his wife had attempted suicide twice before and that he had told her to go rest at her parent's residence. Which could mean Bang either was in on the children calling the private ambulance or is trying to protect them.

The other story, as told by the paramedics on PD Notebook, is that Mi Ran wasn't aware of where she would be taken/would be taken to hospital, but managed to instruct the paramedics to bring her to her parents, by telling them"If you do this, you will not only lose your job, the hospital you belong to will be closed as well. This absolutely illegal. Take me to my parents."

Mi Ran was, in the end, dropped off at her parent's house (her belongings were dropped off in a container soon after). Her mother, shocked to see the state her daughter was in, took pictures of Mi Ran's injuries, which where revealed on the PD Notebok episode dedicated to Mi Ran on the 6th of March.

Democratic Party lawmaker and former police officer Pyo Chang Won was brought on the episode and he had a look at the pictures.

"The fingertips are clearly visible in the area of the shoulders. These are sign of assault and cannot be regarded as an injury. There is a bundle of epidermal scarring and subcutaneous hemorrhages, which is obviously a sign of assault."

Those fingertips near the shoulder would be consistent with what one of the housekeepers described happening. The housekeeper claimed two of the children grabbed her shoulders when she refused to leave (along with yelling at her and calling her a thief).

The official claim from the children was that these injuries were caused by the paramedics when they were transporting Mi Ran, which was later backed up by the head of the hospital the paramedics belong to.

Brother-in-law Kim Yeong Soo also revealed on on the 11th of March during an episode of tbs radio's 'News Factory' that these weren't the only injuries discovered on Mi Ran's body.

"There was a double-edged wound/two scars of about 5 to 6 cm long on the back of her occiput. It isn't known what kind of weapon caused the injuries, but a small finger fracture seemed to have appeared as a cause of blocking the weapon. It can be inferred that serious assaults continued."

Kim also revealed there were signs of a stabbing with a sharp weapon and signs of blunt force trauma, all pointing at abuse. 

There would be no reason to say the paramedics had caused these wounds as well, since Mi Ran would likely not have kept quiet about being violently attacked by the paramedics to the point of broken bones and being hit by a blunt object. 

She had, however, revealed to her family her children were violent towards her a couple of weeks before her suicide. These wounds were likely caused by abuse.

And abuse seems to have been a constant factor in the latter years of Mi Ran's life and most of it seems to have been related to money. She was, for example, stabbed by her daughter in the abdomen three times during an argument about money in November 2015. 

But everything esculated in January of 2016, when Bang and Mi Ran got into a conflict about money. 

Twenty years earlier, Bang had entrusted 5 billion won (3.88 million euros/4.43 million dollars) to Mi Ran. Mi Ran's sister, Lee Mi Kyeong, revealed that Mi Ran had thought it had been a present from a husband to his wife. Bang, however, claims it was the children's inheritance. In a conversation with his son, he told him to 'find the money and take it'. To which his son replied that there wasn't a penny left, since his mother had spend it all. 

Though, right now the focus on the issue doesn't seem to be that Mi Ran has spend the money, but that it wasn't revealed to Bang what the money was spend on.

The PD of PD Notebook, Seo Jeong Moon, sat down for an interview with Global News on the 16th of March, to talk about the money issue among others.

"Mr. Bang Yong Hoon's oldest child stated his father entrusted his mother with 5 billion won and that his mother managed this money through her sister, Lee Mi Kyeong. However, there seems to have been a conflict with Bang Yong Hoon, since Mi Ran's sister (Mi Kyeong) did not disclose details on how the money was used."

Lee Mi Ran is from an upperclass name. That's why she can't admit she lost 5 billion in her family and in this regard Bang Yong Hoon is already in trial with her sister."

Mi Ran's family claims the money was used to cover the children's expenses. Kim explained this on 'news Factory' as well.

"Bang and Lee's children (4) studied in the United States and there were a lot of 'donations'."

"Donations were made when the children entered the school, after that, there was an accident every year when the childeren caused trouble. Because of this, a donation needed to be made as well to get out of the school. Sister-in-law has tried harder then I can imagine to hide these scandals."

"The children, who were aware of the donations, were afraid that if their father was told, they would be scolded. My sister-in-law was afraid of this as well."

"There was a considerable gap between the education level Bang Yong Hoon thinks his children have had and the actual education. The children were afraid that it would lead to a disadvantage in the inheritance."

Kim also mentioned Mi Ran wrote down the use of the money for the children on 'yellow paper' as he advised her to do and show her children. He hoped that this way Mi Ran could show her children how much they were spending and to persuade them to cut back a bit. He considers this the reason for the children to tell her to 'go outside and quietly disappear' and sees it as the biggest mistake of his life.

(Yellow paper refers to a document that contains unpublished information regarding research, or in this case, what the money was spend on. It's more commonly known as preprint. So unlike white paper, the formal document, yellow paper holds no legal or authorised value.)

At first glance, these two claims may look contradicting, but since Mi Ran supposedly wrote down the expenses for her kids, it is very possible Mi Kyeong didn't have access to these documents. If she did, it could still be very possible for her not to show them to Bang for her own reasons.

There is currently a civil lawsuit underway between Bang and Mi Kyeong on this issue.

Bang:"It's true I entrusted 5 billion won to the deceased, but not to the deceased's sister Lee Mi Kyeong. Lee Mi Kyeong has refused to disclose what the 5 billion won was used for and raised the conflict."

This isn't the first time Mi Kyeong and Bang have had legal issues. Mi Kyeong reported Bang and his son to the police in November of 2016, after an attempted break-in.

In the video, it can be seen how Bang's son walks up to the appartment complex bare-foot, before entering the building (keep in mind, the moment one foot crosses the threshold, it's legally considered a break-in). He walks up to Mi Kyeong's floor and stands around in the hall, before going back down the stairs again. When he goes outside again, a car pulls up and Bang (ice axe already in hand) and the driver leave the car. Bang approaches his son and together they go back in the building. The son is the first to reach Mi Kyeong's door and bangs on it with a rock. Right as Bang comes up the stairs, the son slams the rock against the door another time and Bang purposely kicks over the delivery box that was placed on the landing. Bang then walks up to the delivery box and kicks it back again, at which point his son grabs him from behind and switches their positions. His son then tries to grab the ice axe, but Bang refuses to let go of it. The son gives up and they stand around for a bit. The next thing that happens is that the son tells Bang to go downstairs.  He himself proceeds to slam the door one last time, wait a bit and then goes downstairs as well. At this point, the CCTV switches to a hall we haven't seen before where both Bang and his son are walking through the hall. Bang tries a door on his left side before walking off camera, followed shortly by his son. Not long after, they return to the hall and walk back. They go outside (through a different door than they originally entered) and get in the car. 

PD Seo:"After the death of Lee Mi Ran, there was a conflict between Lee Mi Ran's family members and Bang Yong Hoon. On the day of the house invasion, the oldest son allegedly went drinking and then went to see his aunt. He was, however, holding a stone in his hand and Bang Yong Hoon was holding an ice axe in his hand, so it appeared to be a threatening situation and you would think that, had Mi Kyeong opened the door, she would have been injured."

Pyo Chang Won also had a look at the CCTV footage and statement documents and had the following to say.

"This is the result that would be most advantageous for the suspects. It is hard to say that the investigation wasn't conducted with malicious intention."

The police, however, dismissed the charges against Bang as Bang had claimed he was only there to 'dry up' (sober up) his son. On the kicking of the delivery box they said it was 'hard to understand as Bang kicked the delivery box out of excitement that his son was sobering up'.

Bang also claimed the ice axe in the footage was actually used as his walking cane and that that was the reason he was carrying it around. According to Kim, Bang has five walking canes at home and Seo confirmed with the production company that the axe would be around 75 cm long, which would mean Bang would have to bent his waist to use it as a cane. (Disregarding the fact Bang did no once in the video use the ice axe as a cane would be used)

The son was arrested for the attempted break-in, but his charges were later suspended. 

PD Notebook also asked the police to revisit the CCTV footage, but the police refused, standing by their statement that there was a scene on the footage where Bang sobered up his son. Yong Sang police also refused to answer the question whether there was any external pressure or appeal and officer Park, who received the original investigation documents, said he couldn't remember.

One thing to point out as well, is that Mi Kyeong installed the CCTV on advise from a Blue House representative, who warned the family about a possible retaliation from Bang. It's believed the suspicion for retaliation came after Bang read a 11 page letter written by Mi Ran's mother Lim Myeong Sook.

"Bang, your house and my house are in a bad relationship. There's nothing that tears apart like a parent's hart. It wasn't an alcohol addiciton, it wasn't a traffic accident, it wasn't even depression, for months, she was tortured in a private jail placed in your basement, and not anywhere else, my daughter who is struggling to keep her home was taken away by her children and several employees of the private ambulance dispatch service, she was covered in bruises and scars, tied up, barefoot, thrown out of the house and in the end she was killed because she could not overcome the pain. I cannot describe the feeling of such emotions."

(Mi Ran was never diagnosed with depression in her life according to Kim. He claims Bang and their children forced doctors to give a diagnosis, even though she no symptoms)

"After 30 years, her giving birth to and raising four children, why is it that you're such a man that would kill his wife with such cruelty? I honestly say you're sinner and I expect you to live with atonement for the rest of your life."

The existence of the letter was made public in 2016, but at the time, it hadn't been confirmed the letter had actually been written by Myeong Sook. This was only confirmed by Kim during 'News Factory'. He mentioned that his mother-in-law was adviced by her friends to not go against Bang because she was 'hitting a boulder with eggs', to which Myeong Sook responded 'My eggs will break the boulder'.

(Hitting boulder with eggs is a proverb used to tell someone that the solution they have thought up isn't going to accomplish solving the problem.)

Retaliation is something Bang seems to be after after the PD Notebook episode as well. According to Kim, the producers of PD Notebook were threatened by Bang in a 1960 gangsterstyle, eventhough they only reported the tip of the iceberg. 

This was partially shown in PD Notebook as well, when Seo interviewed Bang over the phone, since Bang was in China at the time of investigation.

"It's very easy to make people look bad. I know this is being recorded right now, so you need to make sure you do not edit this and make it clear Seo teacher. I don't know when or where I'll meet you in this lifetime. This isn't to scare you, this isn't to blackmail you, this is nothing."

Bang also asked Seo if he had a child, to which Seo confessed he did. 

On the 22nd of March, Kim returned to 'News Factory' where he discussed the remarks made by Bang on PD Notebook. According to him, the threat towards the child was not one of physical harm, but more of a psychological harm, by revealing sensitive information about Seo.

On this episode he also revealed he believed the police had made a very grave mistake when it comes to how they handled Mi Ran's son and his three hit-and-runs. According to Kim, a couple of months before Mi Ran commited suicide, her son got into another hit-and-run. A police officer coached him 'in real time' over the phone and told him not to 'open the door for a detective'. They also told him to use an infusion to lower the alcohol concentration in his blood. 

Kim also mentioned how the hit-and-run was worse then the DUI case of former FT Island member Choi Jong Hoon currently under investigation.

He believes that these accidents are decisive moments that led up to Mi Ran's death. 

"After these incidents, the children were not told to 'be careful' or to 'be ashamed', they were told 'Chosun Ilbo can cover up anything'. 

He mentioned how Mi Ran was very frustrated and desperate about the situation and how he kept telling her this isn't how their children should be raised. 

At some point, Mi Ran tried to get out of the marriage. Mi Ran's brother Lee Sang Cheol spoke about how his sister visited multiple law firms, but all immediately turned her down as soon as they were told Bang's abuse was the reason for the divorce. One of the firms even went as far as to ask Mi Ran to destroy all of the documents in relation to their firm, because they were of the consequences they would have to suffer at the hands of Chosun Ilbo.

In January 2019, the daughter and son who were involved in getting Mi Ran taken away by a private ambulance were convicted to 8 months in prison and two years of probation. The case wasn't highly publicized, according to the media because the children came forward themselves and confessed to what they had done. 

Originally, the two were charged with 'co-existence injury', but the prosecution lowered the charges to 'coercion'. Basically from murder to coercion.

During the trial, judges pointed out that what thy done to their mother was not acceptable by social standards. Even though the children claimed to be repented of what they had done, they decided to appeal the conviction.

Bang was never tried, since the police said they couldn't prove Mi Ran was confined in the basement.

Timeline

1983 - Bang and Mi Ran get married

November, 2015: Daughter stabs Mi Ran in the abdomen 3 times after an argument about money

January, 2016 - Financial conflict between Bang and Mi Ran

April 29th, 2016 - Bang and Mi Ran fight and Bang strikes Mi Ran. This fight leads to Mi Ran being locked in the basement

August 22nd, 2016 - A private ambulance is called to pick up Mi Ran and she is forcibly removed from the house

September 1st, 2016 - Mi Ran commits suicide, police find her car and suicide note

September 2nd, 2016 - Mi Ran's body found

September 12th, 2016 - Bang cremates body without holding a funeral service, according to Mi Ran's family, and did not discuss the cremation with them. Bang claims he has held a funeral service.

November 11th, 2016 - Attempted break-in by Bang and oldest son at Mi Ran's sister Lee Mi Kyeong's home. Charges against Bang dismissed and son suspended.

2016 - Family sues daughter and son

2016 - 11 page letter is announced, people don't know whether Lim Myeong Sook actually wrote the letter yet

January, 2019 - Children convicted to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation

March 5th, 2019 - PD Notebook air their episode on Lee Mi Ran's suicide, Bang announces legal action against.
March 9th - Mi Ran's brother-in-law Kim Yeong Soo confirms Myeong Sook wrote the 11 page letter and reveals Bang threathened PD notebook 1960 gangsterstyle. 
March 11th, 2019 - Kim appears on 'News Factory' to speak about the PD Notebook episode and give some background information.

March 22nd, 2019 - Kim reveals one of the sons has three hit-and-runs on his name and instead of being told to be careful or ashamed, he was told the Chosun Ilbo can cover up anything. He wasn't tried for any of these incidents.

I tried my best to get information together, but some information has still not been discussed in the article, such as the safe money that was supposedly stolen, Mi Ran's family suspecting Bang Sang Hoon of having slush funds and other things. These things weren't included, because I couldn't quite figure out what was going on.