Jeon Jong Seo has found herself at the center of a controversy involving allegations that her one-person agency was used as a channel for tax evasion.
The issue stems from the revelation that her company, Summer, which she established with her boyfriend, director Lee Chung Hyeon, operated for over three years without being officially registered as a popular culture arts planning business.
According to film industry sources on February 10th, Jeon established the corporation in June 2022. However, the company only completed its official registration as a popular culture arts planning business on February 4th of this year, approximately 3 years and 8 months later.
The company lists its business objectives as the production, development and management of film and drama content. Jeon serves as the CEO, while Director Lee, whom she met through the film The Call and has been publicly dating since 2021, is listed as an internal director.
Under the Popular Culture Arts Industry Development Act, any entity operating an entertainment management business must register with the government. The significant delay has raised questions about the company’s operations and financial transparency.
Jeon’s agency, ANDMARQ, moved quickly to refute the tax evasion claims.
“It is completely unrelated to tax evasion. All income was transparently settled with the actress,” the agency stated.
They clarified that the delay was due to a misunderstanding of the company’s primary purpose. “Summer was not established for management purposes but for content planning, development and production,” ANDMARQ explained. “While management-related items were included in the business description broadly, we did not recognize the need for separate registration as there were no concrete operational plans at the time.”
They added that they corrected the issue immediately after recognizing the oversight. “We re-examined the details and completed the registration procedures as related issues recently arose.”
The agency emphasized a clear separation between Jeon’s personal earnings and the corporation. “Since signing an exclusive contract with ANDMARQ, all income has been normally settled and paid to the actress personally.”
Jeon Jong Seo debuted in the critically acclaimed film Burning (2018) and she has built a strong career with roles in The Call, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon and Project Y.
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