Actor Kim Seon-ho has been embroiled once again in controversy five years after the personal life scandal involving his former girlfriend's abortion. This time it is an allegation of tax evasion using a one-person agency.
On the 3rd, Kim Seon-ho's current agency Fantagio told OSEN regarding the settlement issue with Kim Seon-ho's one-person agency, "After the corporation was established in January 2024, it is correct that settlements were temporarily received (from the transfer of the previous agency)," and issued an official statement. In relation to this, Kim Seon-ho's former agency also told OSEN, "We only deposited the settlement money to the place requested by the actor."
Kim Seon-ho is currently facing allegations of tax evasion through a one-person agency. He originally separately established a one-person agency in January 2024, in which he is the representative, for the purpose of planning and producing performances. Because Kim Seon-ho's residence is the corporate address and his parents are registered respectively as an internal director and an auditor, questions have arisen about allegations of gift tax and tax evasion through salaries and corporate cards.
However, immediately after the initial controversy, Fantagio said, "The past one-person corporation was established for theater production and theater-related activities, and it was never established for the purpose of intentional tax saving or tax evasion. After transferring to Fantagio, actual business activities had not been conducted for about a year, and we are currently proceeding with the business closure process according to relevant laws and procedures," denying the allegations of tax evasion against Kim Seon-ho.
However, it was later revealed through the former agency that Kim Seon-ho received settlement money under the corporation's name, raising suspicions of tax evasion. Coincidentally, another Fantagio artist, singer and actor Cha Eun-woo, received a notice of a supplementary tax bill in the 20 billion won range, and the company is under greater criticism amid the highest-profile allegations of tax evasion in the entertainment industry involving family corporations.
The fact that Kim Seon-ho's personal life controversy is not his first adds to the criticism. Kim Seon-ho was embroiled in a personal life scandal in 2021 in which his former girlfriend accused him of pressuring her to have an abortion. At the time, Kim Seon-ho was receiving strong public love as the male lead in the tvN drama "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha." The day after the drama ended, the personal life allegations were revealed, and Kim Seon-ho withdrew from numerous upcoming projects and advertisements.
Later, conditions emerged suggesting some of the claims by Kim Seon-ho's former girlfriend differed from the facts, and sympathy for Kim Seon-ho grew. Taking advantage of that, Kim Seon-ho returned to the media through the 2023 film "The Nobleman." After that, he enjoyed a run of success, even taking on romantic male lead roles again in works such as "The Tyrant," "When Life Gives You Tangerines," and "Can This Love Be Interpreted?" Now, five years after the personal life controversy, allegations of tax evasion have surfaced again.
Kim Seon-ho's side still maintains the position that "it is by no means a corporation established for the purpose of intentional tax saving or tax evasion." Attention is focused on whether Kim Seon-ho can shake off the second major scandal of his acting career.
[Photo] OSEN DB.
[OSEN]