Korea's top individual tax delinquent Kwon Hyuk to pay 393.8 billion won
Version 2: Later same-day reports added procedural detail that was not in the earlier version, including the June 2026 tax audit of Kwon's Korean shipping office carried out with a court-issued search warrant, the roughly 410 billion won size of the 2011 assessment, and his shipping business background; the core facts are unchanged.
In short
The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group and the country's largest individual tax delinquent, has submitted a plan to pay his personal back taxes of 393.8 billion won in full, 15 years after the tax was assessed. He has already paid 100 billion won in cash, which the NTS called the largest collection of delinquent tax in its history, and offered five ships in Liberia and Panama as collateral for the remainder.
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The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group and the country's largest individual tax delinquent, has submitted a plan to pay his personal back taxes of 393.8 billion won in full. Kwon already paid 100 billion won in cash in July, and for the remainder he submitted an instalment plan and offered overseas ships as collateral. Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyun said at a briefing that “it is the first time in the history of the National Tax Service” that so much delinquent tax has been paid, and that the 100 billion won cash payment broke an earlier record of 50 billion won. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
The tax was assessed in 2011 as comprehensive income tax. According to Seoul Economic Daily, the NTS concluded that Kwon ran a shipping business based in Hong Kong through paper companies in tax havens while living in Korea but filing as a non-resident, and assessed about 410 billion won. Kwon argued he was not a Korean resident and therefore owed no tax, filing an appeal in March 2012 that reached the Supreme Court, where he lost a final ruling in 2024 and the delinquency was confirmed. He did not pay. Hankook Ilbo reported that Kwon, born in 1950, founded Sido Moolsan around 1990, expanded through ship leasing in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong and was once known to hold about 290 vessels, earning the nickname “ship king.” [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
For the remaining 293.8 billion won, Kwon provided five ships located in Liberia and Panama as collateral, and the NTS said an appraisal of the collateral is under way. Ryu Chung-sun, the NTS international tax management officer, said a preliminary assessment indicated the collateral's value exceeds the outstanding amount. Yonhap reported that the NTS is also receiving pre-consulting from the Board of Audit and Inspection because this is the first case of overseas ships being offered as collateral. Including the secondary tax liabilities assigned to related corporations such as Sido Tanker Holding and Sido Holding, the book delinquency totals 790.2 billion won; if Kwon pays his individual amount in full, the liabilities imposed on the corporations would be extinguished, the commissioner said, leaving about 800 billion won of delinquency resolved. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
The NTS attributed the outcome to its high-value delinquent response task force, launched in January with an overseas fund-tracking team. It said it sent delegations and held emergency information meetings with foreign tax authorities and signed collection-cooperation and information-exchange agreements with Hungary, Belgium, the UK, Liberia and New Zealand. Seoul Economic Daily reported that in June the Seoul regional tax office's investigation bureau began an irregular tax audit of Sido Shipping's Korea office, which Kwon effectively ran, obtaining accounting records and employee PCs under a court-issued search warrant. Ryu said Kwon had no domestic property, that the agency turned to overseas assets, and that Kwon said he wants to contribute to the Korean economy and become a “Jang Bogo” through his shipping business, and appeared to conclude that operating with tax risk was difficult. Kwon has offered no direct comment in the documents. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
The NTS said it is preparing to make the task force structure permanent, creating a special investigation unit linked to tax audits at regional offices including the Seoul regional office's fourth bureau, and plans to select staff with expertise in irregular tax investigations, owner asset probes, legal review of seized assets and offshore information gathering in November and December. Lim said the agency would track delinquent assets anywhere in the world and that he viewed Kwon's willingness to pay as positive, hoping the case would lead other delinquents to pay voluntarily before forced collection. [ 3 , 6 , 11 ]
Documents differ on two points. CBS NoCut News put Kwon's personal delinquency at 3,989억 won while other outlets said 3,938억 won, and it placed the Oct 7 briefing at NTS headquarters while other reports placed it at the Government Complex Sejong. The NTS gave no timeline for completing the collateral appraisal or finishing the remaining payments. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
Why it matters
The case is the most public result so far of the NTS's high-value delinquent response task force, which the agency says tracked assets abroad by expanding collection-cooperation and information-exchange agreements with foreign tax authorities. The NTS says it wants the case to encourage other large delinquents to pay before forced collection, and it is moving to turn the task force structure into a permanent unit at regional offices.
Key facts
- The National Tax Service said on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk, chairman of Sido Group, submitted a plan to pay 393.8 billion won in personal back taxes in full. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]
- Kwon already paid 100 billion won in cash in July 2026, which the NTS said is the largest amount of delinquent tax it has ever collected, breaking an earlier record of 50 billion won. [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 ]
- The delinquency dates from a 2011 comprehensive income tax assessment; Kwon argued he was not a Korean resident, sued in 2012 and lost a final Supreme Court ruling in 2024, after which he still did not pay. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- Five ships located in Liberia and Panama were offered as collateral for the remaining 293.8 billion won, with an appraisal of the collateral under way. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- Including secondary tax liabilities assigned to related corporations, the book delinquency totals 790.2 billion won, which the NTS said would be cleared if the individual amount is paid. [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- NTS Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyun said it was the first time in the agency's history that so much delinquent tax had been paid. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- The NTS said it plans to make its high-value delinquent response task force permanent as a special investigation unit at regional offices including the Seoul regional office's fourth bureau. [ 3 , 6 , 11 ]
- Kwon, born in 1950, founded Sido Moolsan around 1990 and ran ship leasing businesses in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, once with about 290 vessels, earning the nickname “ship king.” [ 4 , 9 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The NTS announced on Oct 7 that Kwon Hyuk would pay his individual back taxes of about 393.8 billion won in full. [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]
- Kwon has already paid 100 billion won in cash and offered overseas ships as collateral for the rest, a plan the NTS attributed to its task force. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 ]
- The tax was assessed in 2011, and Kwon argued he was not a Korean resident before losing a final Supreme Court ruling in 2024. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- The NTS used international collection cooperation and information exchange, including with Liberia and Panama, in pursuing the case. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- NTS Commissioner Lim Gwang-hyun presented the case as a record for the agency. [ 3 , 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
- Including corporate secondary liabilities, the book delinquency totals 790.2 billion won, which the NTS said would be cleared once the individual amount is paid. [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 ]
Still unclear
- The exact size of Kwon's personal delinquency, given as 3,938억 won by most outlets and 3,989억 won by CBS NoCut News. Document 7 states 3,989억 won, while documents 3, 6, 9, 11 and 12 state 3,938억 won; no document explains the difference.
- The location of the Oct 7 NTS briefing. Document 7 says the NTS headquarters, while documents 3, 6, 9 and 11 place it at the Government Complex Sejong; the documents do not reconcile this.
- When the remaining 293.8 billion won will actually be paid and the outcome of the collateral appraisal. Documents 3, 6, 7, 9 and 11 say the appraisal and Board of Audit and Inspection pre-consulting are still in progress and give no completion date.
- Whether Kwon himself has commented. No document carries a direct statement from Kwon; his stated intentions are reported through NTS officials (documents 6, 7, 9).
- The full article text retrieved from two outlets does not concern this case. The body text in document 5 (Newsis) is about the Nuri rocket launch, and the body text in document 10 (Korea Economic Daily) is about unrelated retail and stock stories, so those documents support only the headline or summary.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo first reports that Kwon Hyuk will pay about 400 billion won in back taxes after 15 years. [ 1 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo follows with a report calling it the largest amount of delinquent tax collected in NTS history. [ 2 ]
- Asia Economy, Chosun Ilbo, Newsis and Yonhap publish reports; Yonhap carries the NTS briefing, including the 100 billion won cash payment and the 790.2 billion won book total. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- CBS NoCut News reports the NTS collection, citing the 3,989억 won figure and the 790.2 billion won total. [ 7 ]
- Seoul Shinmun reports the payment plan under the headline that it is the largest in NTS history. [ 8 ]
- Hankook Ilbo publishes a detailed account, including Kwon's background and the ships pledged as collateral. [ 9 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports that the Seoul regional tax office's investigation bureau began an irregular tax audit of Sido Shipping's Korea office in June, with a court-issued search warrant. [ 11 ]
- Maeil Business publishes a promotional-style piece on the case. [ 12 ]
- Korea Economic Daily publishes a further report that Kwon will pay the 400 billion won in full. [ 14 ]