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Stars' Embarrassing Families in the Spotlight

Microdot (left) and Dok2

Korean cyberspace is atwitter with revelations about the fly-by-night families of stars big and small.

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Rapper Microdot seemed to have reached the pinnacle of success until his parents were accused of eloping to New Zealand in the middle of the night 20 years ago after borrowing a lot of money from relatives and friends.

On Monday, a local newspaper reported that rapper Dok2's mother borrowed W10 million from a friend in the late 1990s but has not repaid it to this day (US$1=W1,129). The same day, a message on Cheong Wa Dae's petition site claimed that superstar 'Rain"s mother borrowed W15 million worth of rice and W8 million in cash from an acquaintance and never repaid it.  

A message posted on another website Tuesday accused the father of Wheein, a member of girl band Mamamoo, of failing to repay a W20 million debt.

Are the stars to blame? In the eyes of the Twittersphere everyone is guilty until proven innocent, but it would seem to depend whether the stars' misbehaving families traded on their fame.

If the parents die, of course, their children inherit their debt along with anything else, and if it outweighs the assets they can apply to a court for relief. But if children guarantee their parents' debt, they are bound by law to repay it unless they were minors at the time.

A dutiful child may decide to repay the debt voluntarily. Microdot said, "I will meet the victims and listen to them". And Dok2 added a little swagger by saying, "W10 million is a month's lunch money for me. If you need the money, come to me and I will repay you".

Wheein and Rain also said they will try to settle the matter, though that is no guarantee that they will pay up.

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