Cha Eun Woo takes responsibility for tax controversy, says he’s paid owed additional taxes

A couple months ago it was revealed that Cha Eun Woo was investigated on suspicion of tax evasion and that the National Tax Service had issued additional taxes of over 20 billion won. At the time, Fantagio stated that nothing had been finalized and he apologized for concerns and denied that he enlisted to avoid backlash.

Today, the actor took to Instagram to issue an apology and state that he has full paid up his taxes.

This is Cha Eun Woo.
I sincerely apologize to my fans and everyone else for the disappointment and confusion caused by the recent tax-related controversy involving me.
As various administrative procedures were underway, I had to be cautious in expressing my position, and I apologize once again for the delay in speaking out.
Although it is late, I would like to personally share my thoughts and position now.
I respect the procedures and findings of the National Tax Service, and to prevent any further confusion, I have fully paid the related taxes. I will also diligently comply with any remaining procedures.
Having received so much love and support, I am taking this matter very seriously and reflecting deeply. If there were aspects I failed to carefully review, the responsibility lies entirely with me. I will not avoid accountability by saying “I didn’t know” or that it was “someone else’s decision.”
During a period of various changes and uncertainties in my career, I established a corporation to help manage my activities more stably. However, looking back, there were areas I did not examine thoroughly enough, and I believe the responsibility lies not with my family or company, but with me.
Through this incident, I have come to realize the need to reflect on myself. Above all, I feel most terrible and sorry for disappointing my fans AROHA [ASTRO’s fandom], who have trusted and supported me.
To ensure that such an issue does not happen again, I will apply stricter and more careful standards to all aspects of my activities moving forward.
I will continue striving and trying my best to become someone who takes full responsibility for my choices and actions.
Once again, I offer my sincere apologies.
Thank you for taking the time to read this long message.

So he’s made good on the taxes he allegedly evaded at least, but not sure what this means in terms of potential charges for tax evasion for allegedly using a shell company. He sorta alludes to it in the statement with the “remaining procedures”, but we’ll see.

Also, just want to reiterate for all the breathless apologies by international netizens comparing this scandal to some dumb attitude controversy … don’t.

I do want to say that one thing I’ve seen that I don’t like is the downplaying of tax evasion as a crime, primarily in the form of fans pointing out there are worse things in society to focus on. Look man, I don’t know whether Cha Eun Woo did anything wrong or not, but Koreans holding the feet of wealthy celebs to the fire over financial crimes is honestly something I wish Americans did. Just because a rich person is not a murderer doesn’t mean something they allegedly did is not worth taking seriously.