Actor Kim Seon-ho apologized over allegations of tax evasion, but how will the advertising industry react? In particular, the seriousness can be inferred as a brand that had severed ties amid a private life rumor five years ago and later restored the relationship has distanced itself again.
On the 4th, Kim Seon-ho's agency Fantagio addressed the long-standing allegations of tax evasion and controversy over a one-person corporation. Earlier, Fantagio said, "The past one-person corporation was established for theater production and theater-related activities, and it was not established for the purpose of intentional tax avoidance or tax evasion. However, after moving to Fantagio, actual business activities had not been conducted for about a year, and we are currently proceeding with closure procedures in accordance with relevant laws and procedures."
In a second statement, Fantagio provided a detailed explanation divided into corporation establishment and operation, suspension of corporate operations, contract signing with Fantagio, and corporate closure procedures. Regarding the establishment and operation of the corporation, it said, "The corporation was established in January 2024 for acting activities and theater production, and settlement payments for activities conducted after establishment and before the new contract with Fantagio began in February 2025 were paid to that corporation."
According to Fantagio, Kim Seon-ho recognized that the operation of the corporation itself could be misleading, stopped its operation, and for more than the past year no activities had been carried out through the corporation in practice. Afterwards, Kim Seon-ho signed an exclusive contract with Fantagio in February 2025, and Fantagio has been paying settlement funds to the actor personally to date. Regarding this, Fantagio said, "We clearly state that the contract process and activities between Fantagio and Kim Seon-ho have no relation to that corporation."
As a preemptive measure to rectify corporate operations, Kim Seon-ho returned past corporate card usage records, family salaries, and the corporate vehicle, and for amounts previously settled through the corporation he has completed additional payment of personal income tax in addition to corporate tax already paid. The corporation is known to be undergoing closure procedures.
Although he apologized in a second statement totaling 850 characters, the image damage was unavoidable, and the advertising industry, which places the greatest importance on an actor's image, is moving first. First, fashion brand Beanpole deleted the teaser video for its 2026 spring collection that had been uploaded to its official account. The teaser video has disappeared from official SNS as well as YouTube, and the YouTube video has been set to partial view so it can only be watched by entering the link.
Also, OSEN confirmed that skincare brand La Roche-Posay appears to have reached the end of its contract with Kim Seon-ho. La Roche-Posay, which selected Kim Seon-ho as a model in February 2021, had made the advertisement private during the private life controversy and then restored it to public in a new phase. But five years later, when Kim Seon-ho faced allegations of tax evasion and apologized, it appears the ad it had revived was again made private. The exact reason for making the ad private is not known, but the switch back to private again suggests the seriousness of the situation.
Meanwhile, Kim Seon-ho is scheduled to appear in the releases of TVing "In the Net", Disney+ "Portraits of Delusion", and tvN "May the lawmaker protect you."
[OSEN]