Sung Si-kyung → Kang Dong-won and Song Ga-in, the agency's illegal operation scandal was belatedly recognized and registered
Sep 18, 2025
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On the 18th, it was revealed that celebrities such as Kang Dong-won and Song Ga-in did not register as a pop culture and art planning business while running a single-person agency. Kang Dong-won established a one-man agency, AA Group, in 2023, and Song Ga-in established a one-man agency, Indal Entertainment, last year.
According to the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, celebrities who work as corporations or private businesses with one or more employees must register as business operators of popular culture and arts planning. Violation of this could result in imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.
Kang Dong-won's agency said it was aware of the problem after the related issue was published last week and is currently in the process of registering" he said.
JG Star, which is in charge of Song Ga-in's management, signed an exclusive contract with JG Star in the process of establishing a one-man agency for Song Ga-in whose exclusive contract with Pocketdol Studio has expired. JG Star is registered as a pop culture and art planning business, and Song Ga-in was not aware of the problem as she was working as an entertainer belonging to JG Star. A representative for Geindal Entertainment said, "We will proceed with the application for registration within today." Song Ga-in's brother is serving as an in-house director at Gain Dal Entertainment.
Earlier, Sung Si-kyung also had controversy over the unregistered operation of the agency. SK Jaewon, a one-man agency founded with his sister, has not been registered as a pop culture and art planning business since its establishment in 2011. SK Financial Group said "We established a corporation in accordance with the laws and regulations at the time. Since then, the Pop Culture and Arts Industry Development Act was enacted in January 2014 and the obligation to register the pop culture and arts planning business was newly established and implemented. "We were not aware of these registration obligations, and as a result, we were unable to proceed with the registration process." I deeply apologize for the lack of awareness and preparation for the relevant laws and regulations. At present, we are in the process of registering as soon as we are aware of this fact."
Ok Joo-hyun also failed to complete the registration on time due to ignorance of the administrative procedures at the time in the process of registering the pop culture and arts planning business after establishing a single agency around April 2022. After recognizing the mistake, I immediately followed the supplementary procedure and completed the application for registration of the pop culture and arts planning business on September 10, 2025, and I am currently waiting for registration."
Meanwhile, after a series of controversies, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it will implement the Japanese registration period for the pop culture and arts planning business until December 31. After the guidance period, strong measures such as administrative investigations and requests for investigations will be taken against unregistered businesses.
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