Businessman involved in illegal North Korea remittance case named among top tax dodgers
Published: 12 Dec. 2025, 13:39
![Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool, on July 12, 2024. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/12/12/2e75cce2-9f78-4d02-9e19-e6dff73e192b.jpg)
Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool, on July 12, 2024. [YONHAP]
A businessman involved in illegal money transfers to North Korea is among thousands of individuals and companies who have failed to pay more than 200 million won ($136,000) in taxes, tax authorities said Friday.
The National Tax Service (NTS) made public the names of 6,848 people and 4,161 companies, and the amount of tax they have not paid as of end-2024 on its website. Collectively, those on the list owe a combined 7.37 trillion won in unpaid taxes.
Among the delinquents, 78.1 percent owed between 200 million and 500 million won, the agency said.
Notable individuals on the list included Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool, who owes 16.5 billion won in unpaid inheritance and other taxes, placing him in the top 10, the NTS said.
Kim was previously convicted on charges of transferring $8 million to North Korea via China on behalf of Gyeonggi in 2019, when President Lee Jae Myung was its governor.
The individual at the top of the list is Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group, who owes 393.8 billion won in comprehensive income taxes, the NTS said.
Kwon, founder of Sido Moolsan, a shipping management firm founded in 1990, built a network of subsidiaries across South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. He was also listed in 2020 for unpaid inheritance taxes of 2.2 billion won.
Among disclosed delinquent corporations, 77.9 percent owed between 200 million and 500 million won in unpaid taxes, the NTS said.
Sido Tanker Holdings, also led by Kwon, topped the corporate list, along with two affiliated companies, the agency said.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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