Park Wi and Song Ji-eun. [Newsis]
Park Wi and Song Ji-eun. [Newsis]

Amid a controversy over YouTuber Park Wi's decision to release CCTV footage of a fall he suffered on a KTX train, fresh allegations have emerged that his family treated his wife, former Secret member Song Ji-eun, differently from another woman in the household.

A video Park Wi posted in September 2024 on his YouTube channel "Wiracle" — titled "First Chuseok at My In-Laws' Home" — has recently resurfaced and drawn renewed attention online.

The video showed Song Ji-eun spending the Chuseok holiday at the home of Park Wi's family.

Song joined her husband, his family members and actor Yoon So-hee — known as the foster daughter of Park Wi's father — for meals and conversation. Although the content was presented as a warm family gathering, some viewers argued that Park Wi's family showed more attention to Yoon than to Song.

One scene that drew particular scrutiny was a meal shared by the family. While everyone else used matching tableware, Song alone appeared to be using a different set.

Other moments also raised eyebrows. During a pre-meal prayer, Park Wi named "our beloved So-hee and Ji-eun" — mentioning Yoon before his own wife — and his parents praised Yoon, a KAIST graduate, without offering similar words to Song. Viewers said the footage gave the impression that Song was being left out.

Others, however, cautioned that it was difficult to draw conclusions about the family's actual dynamics or whether any discrimination had occurred based on select scenes from a single video.

The renewed scrutiny of the old footage came as past videos of Park Wi began circulating again in the wake of the controversy surrounding his release of the KTX fall footage.

Earlier, Park Wi posted CCTV footage on his YouTube channel on Aug. 21 showing his wheelchair being caught on the foot of a social service worker as he was getting off a KTX train, causing him to fall. The video drew criticism after it emerged that he had edited out the scene in which the worker on duty at the time apologized to him.

Park Wi apologized, saying he "had not considered the position of the worker who had done his best to help me and offered a sincere apology," and announced he would suspend his YouTube activities. Scheduled lectures were subsequently canceled, and he stepped down from his role as a Seoul Metropolitan Government promotional ambassador.

Meanwhile, Park Wi and Song Ji-eun married in October 2024. The couple has shared glimpses of their daily lives through YouTube and television appearances.


min3654@heraldcorp.com