'Overseas Account Reduction Report' Taepyeongyang Development Chairman Fined 500 Million Won in First Trial

Chairman Seo Young-bae of Taepyeongyang Development, accused of underreporting hundreds of billions of won held in overseas accounts
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Seo Young-bae, chairman of Taepyeongyang Development (66), was sentenced to a fine of 500 million won in the first trial for underreporting hundreds of billions of won held in overseas accounts. Chairman Seo is the eldest son of Seo Seong-hwan, the founder of the Taepyeongyang Group, the predecessor of the cosmetics company Amorepacific.

On the afternoon of the 29th, Judge Jo Su-yeon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 5 stated, "It does not appear to be an attempt to evade gift tax or inheritance tax, and he has admitted all the wrongdoing."

Earlier, Chairman Seo was accused of underreporting about 25.6 billion won in 2016 and about 26.5 billion won in 2017 when declaring money held in overseas accounts to the tax office.

According to related laws, if a certain amount or more is held in overseas financial accounts, there is an obligation to report the annual holding amount to the head of the competent tax office every year. If 5 billion won or more of the reportable amount is omitted, one may be subject to imprisonment for up to 2 years or a fine of up to 20% of the omitted amount. Repeated violations result in aggravated punishment.

The first trial calculated the fine amount that Chairman Seo must pay as about 7.9 billion won. This is the sum of 20% of the larger omitted amount of 26.5 billion won plus an aggravated portion due to repeated offenses.

However, the fine was set at 500 million won. This considered that Chairman Seo had already paid over 7.4 billion won in fines and penalties for omissions in 2015, 2018, and 2019, as well as penalties imposed on his spouse, who is a joint owner.

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