[theqoo][EXCLUSIVE] SUSPICIOUS ACCOUNTING PRACTICES FOUND WITH KIM SOOHYUN'S AGENCY, GOLD MEDALIST

Actor Kim Soohyun rose to stardom as a Hallyu star in 2014 after the massive success of the SBS drama My Love from Another Star. His then-agency, KeyEast, led by Bae Yong-joon, also benefited from the “Kim Soohyun effect.” At one point, the company's revenue surpassed 100 billion won (75M USD) solely from Kim Soohyun’s drama appearance fees and advertisement deals. Hana Daetoo Securities stated in a report at the time: “Although KeyEast had 37 actors under contract, 75% of the revenue came from Kim Soohyun, highlighting an extremely high level of dependency.”

Joint Venture with His Brother Lee Roobae Draws Attention

After completing his military service, Kim Soohyun moved to a new talent agency, Gold Medalist, in 2019. The company’s largest shareholder is Bareun No.2 Investment Partnership, which holds 100% of Gold Medalist’s shares. However, the real owner is known to be Kim Soohyun’s older brother, Irobe (stage name: Lee Sarang).

A source familiar with the company said: “There have long been rumors that Kim Soohyun has been managing things behind the scenes after co-founding Gold Medalist with Irobe. But in reality, the day-to-day management is handled almost entirely by Irobe, the majority shareholder. Kim Soohyun does hold a stake in the company, but he has mainly focused on his role as the agency’s flagship actor.”

In the following year, the company officially launched its management business by signing founding members including Seo Yeji and the late Kim Saeron. One notable point is the opaque nature of the Bareun No.2 Investment Partnership, the company that owns Gold Medalist.
This partnership also effectively controls an online education company (Company G) listed on the KOSDAQ, and is currently under investigation by both the police and the National Tax Service for stock manipulation and tax evasion. The company has denied the allegations, calling them "groundless."

When the investment partnership registered its business, it listed its address as the second floor of an old three-story building in Jangwi-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, where the first floor houses a laundromat and a hardware store. There’s no signage, making it difficult to believe this is the headquarters of Hallyu star Kim Soohyun.
Even more puzzling, the second floor is actually occupied by a medical equipment company, not the investment partnership. This has raised serious questions about the true identity and legitimacy of the company that controls both a top-tier talent agency and a KOSDAQ-listed firm.

Unreasonably Low Settlement Payments to Artists

Another questionable issue is the low level of settlement payments (disbursed fees) paid to artists by Gold Medalist. These are recorded under cost of sales and typically include drama appearance fees, advertisement earnings, and other expenses. Since expenses are not typically large in this business, these fees are effectively considered the artists’ share.

According to the company’s audit reports, Gold Medalist paid: 

- 52 million won in 2020
- 111 million won in 2021
- 75 million won in 2022
- 171 million won in 2023
- 270 million won in 2024

In total, only around 670 million won (500K) was paid to its actors over 5 years.
An industry insider commented: “Typically, the revenue split between agency and actor is 20:80 or even 10:90. That means actors usually receive 80–90% of revenue as their settlement. Given that, these numbers just don’t add up.”

This issue is particularly glaring in 2024, when the tvN drama Queen of Tears became a global hit. International media praised it as “ushering in the fifth wave of Hallyu,” and noted that it surpassed the Reply series to become the third-highest rated drama in tvN history.

Thanks to the drama’s success, Kim Soo-hyun starred in advertisements for 16 brands, including Homeplus, Eider, Prada, and Classys. Gold Medalist also recorded its first-ever annual revenue exceeding 20 billion KRW.
Yet, the settlement fee for 2024 was still just 270 million KRW, raising even more eyebrows.

Gold Medalist: “Settlements Included in Service Revenue Costs”

According to Gold Medalist's website, the agency currently manages 10 actors, including Kim Soo-hyun.
While some like Song Ga-yeon, Kim Seung-ho, and Lee Jong-ho are relatively unknown rookies, the list also includes rising stars like Seol In-ah, Choi Hyunwook, and Kim Soo-kyum, who have already secured leading roles and appeared in numerous commercials.

Adding the advertising revenue from departed members like Lee Chaemin, Seo Yeji, and the late Kim Saeron, the total earnings would be significantly higher.
Still, the settlement fees paid to actors amounted to less than 1% of the company’s average annual revenue over 4 years. In some cases, entertainment and meeting expenses exceeded the amount paid to artists, a further cause for suspicion.

In response, a Gold Medalist representative stated: “Settlement payments to artists are considered private information and are not required to be disclosed.”

“Artist fees are included in the cost of service revenue, so calculating total settlements based solely on the reported disbursed fees is misleading.”

Industry Says: “This Isn’t Normal”

The entertainment industry sees things differently.
Many major talent agencies transparently disclose artist settlement amounts in their audit reports.

For example:
- EDAM Entertainment, which manages IU, paid settlement fees of: 26.3 billion won (2023) 33.6 billion won (2024). This followed a 60% revenue increase thanks to the Netflix hit When Life Gives You Tangerines.

- ADOR, home to girl group NewJeans, paid: 29 billion won (2023) 23.8 billion KRW (2024)
Even excluding 6.4 billion won in SG&A expenses, each member is estimated to have received around 9.3 billion won .

- HOOK Entertainment, which represents singer-actor Lee Seunggi, paid 79% of its revenue as settlement fees over the past 4 years, even though the company ran in the red throughout.
An insider noted: “HOOK was recently in a legal dispute with Lee Seung-gi over unpaid ad fees, yet they still paid out a large share of revenue to artists. That’s just how the industry works.
Normally, agencies are at the mercy of their artists. But Gold Medalist seems to be doing the opposite.”

source: https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/586/0000112132?sid=001

original post: here

1. ? Kim Soohyun's fans here are insane 

2. Just the fact that he was sending letters to a minor already sucks, how can you shield a human like that?

3. It's not even settlement payments, it's service fees. So what would be considered a normal amount of service fees then? Should they have paid like 5 billion won?

4. How many people actually criticize the article after really understanding what it says? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ People still believe in Garosero

5. The National Tax Service is already investigating, they'll figure it out.

6. The more you peel, the worse he looks 

7. Can they just investigate everything at once?

8. So there's still Kim Soohyun fans shielding him despite the letters he sent to a minor?

9. Hul 

10. How can they pay only this much salary? We need to expose everything about them 

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