Actor Lee Byung-hun fined by National Tax Service

Actor Lee Byung-hyun attends a gala at a hotel in Busan on Oct. 7, 2022. [NEWS1]

Lee Byung-hun's agency confirmed reports that the actor was fined an unspecified sum following an investigation by the National Tax Service, but claimed the fine was not for tax evasion.

“Lee has never had a single tax-related incident over the past 30 years,” said an official from agnecy BH Entertainment on Tuesday. “The fine issued by the National Tax Service during accounting was for the difference in advertising guarantee payment periods and bonuses paid to employees at our agency.”

A local media outlet had reported earlier Tuesday that Lee and BH Entertainment had received a special tax audit from the National Tax Service in September last year and that the two parties were fined millions of won. Unlike regular tax investigations, special tax audits by the National Tax Service are conducted when there is a suspicion of tax evasion.

Lee bought a 10-story building in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul in 2018, using individual and corporate funds, and sold it in 2021 for profit of about 10 billion won ($7.6 million), according to local reports. BH Entertainment said the sale of this property and the recent tax investigation were “unrelated.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]