9668 High-Amount and Habitual Defaulters of Local Taxes and Local Administrative Penalty Charges Disclosed

O Mun-cheol, Former CEO of Bohae Savings, 14.6 Billion Won Unpaid

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The list of high-amount delinquent taxpayers who have failed to pay local taxes or local administrative penalties and levies exceeding 10 million KRW for over a year has been disclosed.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments disclosed on the 18th the list of 9,668 high-amount and habitual delinquent taxpayers (8,720 for local taxes, 948 for local administrative penalties and levies) on the websites of Wetax, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and each local government’s city and provincial websites. The unpaid taxes amount to a total of 514.871 billion KRW, including 424.364 billion KRW in local taxes and 90.57 billion KRW in local administrative penalties and levies.

The disclosure targets are individuals and corporations delinquent as of January 1 this year, finalized after a minimum six-month explanation period and review by each local government. Those who paid more than 30% of the delinquent amount during the explanation period or are currently appealing were excluded from disclosure.

The disclosed items include the delinquent taxpayer’s name or business name (corporate name), age, occupation, address, tax category of the delinquent amount, payment deadline, and summary of delinquency. If the delinquent taxpayer is a corporation, the representative’s name is also disclosed.

The total delinquent amount for 8,720 local tax delinquents was 424.364 billion KRW, with an average delinquency of about 48.6 million KRW per person. Among the delinquency brackets, 5,344 taxpayers owed between 10 million KRW and 30 million KRW, totaling 98.391 billion KRW, the largest group.

By industry, manufacturing had the most with 1,112 people owing 47.835 billion KRW, followed by wholesale and retail with 1,098 people owing 50.025 billion KRW. By age, those in their 50s numbered 2,147 and those in their 60s 1,529, accounting for 58.8% of the total 6,249.

By city and province, Gyeonggi-do accounted for 26.8% (2,341 people) of the total delinquents and 23.0% (97.708 billion KRW) of the delinquent amount. Seoul accounted for 19.4% (4,688 people) of the total delinquents and 27.4% (116.422 billion KRW) of the delinquent amount.

The top individual on the entire list of high-amount and habitual local tax delinquents was Oh Moon-cheol (65), former CEO of Bohae Savings Bank, who failed to pay 14.687 billion KRW in local income tax. He has recorded the highest personal delinquency amount for four consecutive years since 2017. The second was Cho Dong-man (63), former vice chairman of Hansol Group, who owed 8.325 billion KRW in resident tax.

Among corporations, Dream Hub Project Financial Investment Co., Ltd., the former developer of the Yongsan Station area, maintained the highest delinquency amount at 55.214 billion KRW.

Among newly included delinquents this year, the top was Kang Young-chan (39), who failed to pay 5.755 billion KRW in local income tax. The second and third were Shin Dong-il (86) and Choi Sung-min (51), who owed 4.234 billion KRW and 3.518 billion KRW respectively.

Among corporations, New Green General Construction failed to pay 2.256 billion KRW, and Yongin Yeoksam District Urban Development Project Association failed to pay 2.08 billion KRW.

The total delinquent amount for 948 local administrative penalties and levies delinquents was 90.5 billion KRW. The top individual delinquent in this category was Lee Ha-jun (57), who owed 2.957 billion KRW, and the top corporation was Yongin Yeoksam District Urban Development Project Association, which failed to pay 39.42 billion KRW.

Park Jae-min, Director of the Local Finance and Economy Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "Through the disclosure of the list of high-amount and habitual delinquents, we will continuously foster a culture of sincere payment of local taxes and local administrative penalties and levies," adding, "We will actively support local governments to mobilize all their capabilities to collect delinquent amounts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.