On December 25, the Chuncheon District Court’s Wonju branch sentenced Han So-hee’s mother, Ms. Shin, to one year in prison, suspended for two years, along with 120 hours of community service for operating illegal gambling dens.

Despite being fined in 2021 for similar offenses, Ms. Shin ran 7 gambling establishments between January 2022 and August 2023 in cities like Wonju, Ulsan, and Gyeongju. These dens allowed customers to participate in online gambling games like baccarat, often in collaboration with gaming room operators.

The court highlighted her significant financial gains from the operations but considered her lack of similar past convictions and time in pretrial detention when issuing the suspended sentence. However, prosecutors have appealed, calling the sentence too lenient.

This is not Ms. Shin’s first controversy. In 2020, she was accused of embezzling private savings group funds, leading to a “debt scandal.” Han So-hee explained at the time, “My parents divorced when I was five, and I was raised by my grandmother. As her child, I repaid her debts to the best of my ability before debuting.” In 2021, Ms. Shin had already been fined 5 million won for violating the Game Industry Promotion Act. In 2022, Ms. Shin faced a lawsuit for failing to repay 85 million won she borrowed in 2018, using a bank account under Han So-hee’s name without her knowledge.

Han So-hee’s agency, 9ato Entertainment, expressed their regret over the situation, emphasizing that the matter is entirely personal and unrelated to the actress, who learned about it through news reports.