The National Tax Service said on the 12th that Kwon Hyuk, chair of Sido Holding known as the "ship king," ranked No. 1 among individual high-value delinquents as of the end of last year. Kwon reportedly has not paid 393.8 billion won in taxes from 2011 to recent years.
As of the end of last year, the National Tax Service disclosed the names, ages, occupations, addresses, and amounts in arrears of people who were assessed 2 billion won or more in national taxes and failed to pay for more than a year. Kwon had been excluded from disclosure because he continued filing appeals against taxes. Then his name was released after the Supreme Court last year finalized a partial victory for Kwon.
Kwon founded a ship management company in 1990 and expanded operations in Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong. When it became known that the company owned 170 ships, Kwon was called the "ship king." In 2011, the National Tax Service said it would crack down on offshore tax evasion and imposed an additional 410.1 billion won in taxes on Kwon. The amount was the largest ever at the time.
The National Tax Service also reported Kwon to prosecutors on suspicion of tax evasion. In connection with this, Kwon received a finalized sentence from the Supreme Court of eight months in prison, suspended for two years. Separately from the criminal trial, Kwon continued to file appeals seeking to cancel comprehensive income tax and other assessments. The taxes litigation was reviewed three times by the Supreme Court. That is because lower courts and the Supreme Court reached different conclusions over the amount of tax evasion. Last year, through a reversal and direct judgment (the Supreme Court overturns a lower court ruling and renders a final judgment itself), the Supreme Court finalized a partial win for Kwon.
Companies represented by Kwon also topped the list of corporate high-value delinquents at Nos. 1–3. The amounts in arrears are 153.7 billion won for CIDO Tanker Holding Co., 153.4 billion won for Sido Holding, and 131.5 billion won for CIDO Car Carrier Service Ltd. The total arrears related to Kwon amount to 832.4 billion won.
Former SSANGBANGWOOL Group Chair Kim Sung-tae also ranked No. 10 among individual high-value delinquents. Kim reportedly failed to pay 16.5 billion won, including gift tax. Kim has been indicted on charges including illegal remittances to North Korea, received a three-year, six-month prison sentence in the first trial, and is undergoing an appeals trial. In addition, Choi, the head of Zeus No. 1 Investment Association, who is suspected of being effectively owned by Kim, also failed to pay 53.8 billion won in taxes and ranked No. 2 among individual high-value delinquents.
Meanwhile, 6,848 individuals were disclosed this year, and they reportedly failed to pay a total of 4.0661 trillion won in taxes. In addition, there were 4,161 corporations with total arrears of 2.971 trillion won.