South Korea’s dimpled heartthrob Kim Seon Ho recently reached a new career high with his new drama “When Love Translates?”, but has been hit with allegations of tax evasion. Korean media outlet Kyunghyang Sports reported on the 1st that Kim Seon Ho established a one-person corporate planning company with his parents as directors and auditors. He paid his parents monthly salaries, the money which was later returned to his account, and the company was also not registered as a general arts and cultural planning business, raising suspicions of tax evasion. His agency, “Fantagio”, subsequently issued a statement clarifying that there are no problems with Kim Seon Ho’s contract.
Kyunghyang Sports revealed that Kim Seon Ho established the corporate planning company in January 2024, serving as its representative and registering the address at his residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The company’s listed business included performance planning, as well as advertising agency services, advertising media sales, media content creation, TV program production, and real estate trading, among others. Despite having performance planning as a business activity, it was not properly registered as a general arts and cultural planning enterprise as required.
The report mentioned that Kim’s father served as an internal director and his mother, Park, as an auditor, with the board composed entirely of family members—the same method used by Fantagio’s Cha Eun Woo. Sources also revealed that Kim Seon Ho used the corporate bank account to transfer hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of Korean won (thousands to tens of thousands of Malaysian ringgit) to his parents each month, who would then transfer the money back to Kim Seon Ho. In addition, Kim Seon Ho’s parents used the corporate credit card to pay for personal living expenses, and his father’s car was registered under the company’s name, raising concerns of embezzlement. This fueled suspicion that the company may just be a shell company.
“Fantagio” later issued a statement saying, “Kim Seon Ho is currently under an exclusive contract with Fantagio as an individual, and all activities are conducted accordingly. There are no issues whatsoever regarding the current contractual relationship or any legal or tax procedures related to his activities. We wish to clarify that there are absolutely no problems regarding Kim Seon Ho’s contract and artistic activities with Fantagio.”
Regarding the one-person planning company established by Kim Seon Ho, the statement said, “It was set up strictly for the production of plays and stage-related activities, and not for the purpose of tax saving or evasion. Since Kim Seon Ho joined Fantagio, the company ceased any substantial business around a year ago, and is in the process of legally dissolving in accordance with the relevant laws and procedures. We will continue to comply with all applicable laws and procedures in future activities, and do our utmost to ensure that our artist can continue his work without unnecessary misunderstandings.”