Police question dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook over alleged workplace abuse

Star dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, 38, was questioned by police on Monday over allegations of reading private messages exchanged between his former employees.

Star dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, right, and his wife Susan Elder deny accusations, mainly centering around workplace behavior, in a video posted on their YouTube channel BodeumTV on May 24. [SCREEN CAPTURE/JOONGANG ILBO]

Star dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, 38, was questioned by police on Monday over allegations of reading private messages exchanged between his former employees.

The cyber police of Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Policy Agency said Kang, who headed the now-closed dog training business Bodeum Company, was questioned on Monday.

Kang reportedly told the police that his actions were unintentional.

His wife, Susan Elder, 39, who also faces the same charges, was questioned last week. Both are under investigation for violating the Information and Communications Network Act.

Last month, the former employees of Bodeum Company accused the couple of gaining unauthorized access to private conversations on the company's internal messenger. The employees argued that despite being a company messenger, accessing and sharing their messages without permission should be considered a breach of privacy.

In response to the lawsuit, Kang posted on social media on June 26, stating, "I will cooperate fully with the investigation to reveal the truth," while also warning that he would take legal action against the spread of false information and defamatory posts.

The lawsuit came after Kang and his wife admitted to certain allegations of workplace abuse, including unauthorized access to messenger conversations, in a 55-minute YouTube video posted on May 24. This video was released after individuals claiming to be former employees exposed their workplace behavior on a job site in May.

The company announced the termination of all services on its website as of June 30.

Kang, often nicknamed the “dog president,” rose to fame as a professional dog trainer and TV celebrity, starring in the dog training series “There is No Bad Dog in the World” on EBS from 2015 to 2018.

BY LEE JI-YOUNG, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]