Actor Kim Seon Ho has publicly apologized following accusations that his one-person business served as a paper company to evade tax payments. On February 4, Fantagio, his agency, released a statement about the claims and their efforts to fix the issue.
The controversy began when an article written by a local news station stated that Kim has set up and operated a side business that is not related to his agency's operations.
This led to some speculation about Kim's practices in regards to handling agency funds, and quickly gained more attention in various online communities and entertainment websites, leading to waas of conversation between fans of K-pop and the general public.
According to Koreaboo, Fantagio released a comprehensive explanation clarifying the agents' objectives and timelines. An agency has issued a public statement that is generally neutral in tone. The agency will release additional details when ready to issue an official statement.
"Hello, this is Fangagio, Kim Seon Ho's agency. We would like to share additional facts and our position regarding Kim Seon Ho's one-person corporation."
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Fantagio said that the company was set up in January 2024 to handle Kim's acting and theater work and that all payments went through it until he signed a new exclusive contract with Fantagio in February 2025. The agency said that Kim later realized the arrangement could be misleading and stopped operations more than a year ago to address concerns about its continued use.
Fantagio emphasized that it was not part of the corporation in a different part of the statement, which began with an explanation of the agency's stance on its contractual relationship.
"Fantagio and Kim Seon Ho have been paying the actor directly since the signing of their exclusive contract in February 2025. We would like to make it clear that Fantagio has no relationship with the previously mentioned corporation regarding the contract process or activities between Fantagio and Kim Seon Ho."
The agency also explained what it did to fix the alleged mismanagement, such as returning company property and paying taxes. Fantagio stated that they took these actions as a precaution before listing them.
"For the amounts previously settled through the corporation, he has completed payment of additional individual income tax in addition to the previously paid corporate tax."
People who talked about the situation on theqoo had mixed feelings. Some were upset about it, while others were sympathetic, especially after Fantagio said the company was going out of business. The statement ended with Kim's apology, in which he admitted that he didn't understand how to run the company and said he was sorry for the confusion it caused.
Recently, Kim was also accused online of "tax laundering" in connection with the settlement process. Fantagio's statement tried to clear things up and show that this was not true.
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