Published : Sept. 6, 2011 - 19:20
Popular TV show host Kang Ho-dong and actress Kim Ah-joong apologized to the public on Monday for failing to properly declare their incomes, after being ordered by the National Tax Service to pay additional taxes.
“Due to miscommunication between Kim Ah-joong and a tax preparation service provider, she has been asked by the National Tax Service to pay additional taxes,” Kim’s agency Trophy Entertainment said in a statement.
“Regardless of the reason, it is Kim Ah-joong’s responsibility for the issue. She will faithfully pay the additional taxes,” it said.
The entertainment agency, however, denied some news reports that she was charged 600 million won ($560,642) in additional taxes, saying the reported figure was “inflated.”
Kim gained popularity with the 2006 comedy film “200 Pounds Beauty.”
Earlier on the same day, Kang also apologized through his agency for not declaring his full income to the NTS and vowed to pay the taxes.
The agency said Kang has been under a tax evasion probe for five months. His lawyer and tax service provider raised a few objections to the NTS but they concluded that Kang paid less money in taxes than he was supposed to pay, it said.
The sum of Kang’s additional taxes was not disclosed but news reports said he will pay hundreds of millions of won.
Kang, Korean traditional wrestler-turned-comedian, is one of several well-paid MCs in the TV industry.
He recently announced that he will leave the popular KBS reality program “One Night, Two Days,” prompting speculation that he may move to one of the new “comprehensive programming channels” which will be run by four major conservative newspapers.
By Kim Yoon-mi (
yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)