Lee Ha-nui was transferred to the prosecution on charges of unregistering her entertainment agency.

No, I heard that Hani Co., Ltd. was established and operated since 2015.

Are you saying that the agency is still unregistered???

But I know that Lee Ha-nui got married in 2021~~

Lee Ha-nui and her husband Jang Mo-ssi were sent to prison without detention in connection with the unregistered planning business...

So your husband is currently running this agency???

Ahem... I read the news and it seems like there are still problems related to taxes;;;

He had a good image as a good actor, but I'm disappointed.

Actress Lee Ha-nui was referred to the prosecution on charges of unregistering her entertainment agency. (Photo provided by Netflix)

actor Lee Ha-nui was transferred to the prosecution on charges of unregistered popular culture and arts planning business.

It was confirmed on the 24th that the Seoul Gangnam Police Station had sent Lee Ha-nui, her husband Jang Mo-ssi, and the corporation Hope Project to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on the 23rd on charges of violating the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act.

Lee Ha-nui and Jang established "Ha-nui Co., Ltd." in 2015, changed the company's name, and operated it. However, it was discovered that they had not registered as a popular culture and arts planning business, a mandatory procedure. At the time, Lee Ha-nui's side stated, "We were not fully aware of the registration requirements for popular culture and arts planning businesses and were unable to complete the registration process."

According to the current Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, entertainers or agencies operating as corporations or individual business owners with more than one person may be subject to legal sanctions, including suspension of business and imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won, if they conduct unregistered popular culture and arts planning business operations.

When news broke that Lee Ha-nui was operating an unregistered entertainment agency, related accusations followed. The accuser stated, "'I was unaware' is not an excuse for liability, and this principle applies to influential figures in popular culture and the organizations surrounding them."

Additionally, he said, “In Lee Ha-nui’s case, the influence of her personal brand is combined with the reality of her management sales, so there is a responsibility to constantly check the basic legal status of the business,” and “Since the unregistered status has been left unattended for a long period of time, we cannot avoid holding both the person involved and the organization legally and socially responsible.”

Separately, Lee Ha-nui was also subject to a fine of 6 billion won from the National Tax Service in September of last year for treating all of her entertainment earnings as corporate tax through Hope Project.

Lee Ha-nui's agency paid 2.7 billion won in salaries from 2021 to 2023 despite having no regular employees, and the company had only 10 million won in capital at the time of establishment, but the company purchased a building for 6.45 billion won in the name of the company only two years after establishment, which became a problem.

The agency claimed, “As a citizen of the Republic of Korea, we have fulfilled our duty to pay taxes by complying with the law and procedures,” and that “the additional taxes collected are a ‘difference in interpretation of the law.’”

Attorney Jeong Tae-won of LKB Pyeongsan Law Firm said, “If the company continued to operate after the law went into effect, it is the company’s responsibility to check the relevant systems and determine whether or not it has registered.” He added, “However, if the company completed registration, even if it was late, and it is determined that the intent was not great, in practice, there is a high possibility that the case will be resolved with a fine or suspended prosecution.”

He added, “In addition, rather than focusing solely on punishment, we should consider using this opportunity to comprehensively inspect similar types of celebrity corporations or small-scale agencies and allow them to voluntarily correct any problematic areas.” He added, “Doing so will help reduce unnecessary controversy and ensure that the system functions properly in the field.”

Reporter Lee Seon-myeong [email protected]