Korea’s tax agency said Wednesday that it has secured 863.3 billion won ($765.7 million) in unpaid taxes from high-income tax evaders during the first seven months of this year.

The National Tax Service said it cracked down on tax evaders among wealthy citizens in the January-July period, finding that 1,420 high-income earners have engaged in dodging taxes through diverse tactics.

As a result, the NTS said that it has ordered them to pay 510.3 billion won in cash for unpaid taxes and seized 224.4 billion won worth of their properties. The tax agency has also secured tax claims estimated at around 128.6 billion won.

Those tax evaders were found to have dodged taxes in excess of 100 million won by, in many cases, concealing their cash and assets under the names of their spouses or relatives.

The NTS has been beefing up its clampdown on tax evasion since it launched a task force in February intended to trace down the hidden assets of wealthy citizens.

The tax agency is also intensifying cooperation with its foreign counterparts in order to deal sternly with tax evasion attempts using secret offshore bank accounts. (Yonhap News)