Agency Responds to Claims of Actor Underpayment
On June 19, allegations surfaced that Gold Medalist — the agency behind Hallyu superstar Kim Soo-hyun — shortchanged its actors over a five-year period. A report claimed the total settlement payments from 2020 to 2024 amounted to just 670 million KRW (roughly $500,000 USD), a number critics say is well below industry standards.
Gold Medalist: “We Follow the Law, Period.”
Gold Medalist swiftly responded, saying the comparison made in the media was misleading. “Publicly listed companies follow the K-IFRS accounting standards, while we, as a private entity, follow K-GAAP,” the agency clarified. “There’s no problem with actor payments — they’re accounted for as cost of sales in compliance with all legal standards.”
The agency emphasized that such comparisons between listed and non-listed companies were fundamentally flawed. TL;DR? Not all accountants speak the same financial language — especially across different company types.
Shady Office? Not So Fast
Another eyebrow-raising rumor involved the agency’s ownership and whether its second investment fund — apparently with no obvious physical office — was properly registered. Gold Medalist had an answer for that too: “Investment entities often don’t operate out of physical spaces. Ours is registered properly, and yes, that’s completely normal.”
The agency added that it has maintained a legal advisory contract with LKB & Partners, a major South Korean law firm, ensuring full-scale legal vetting of their management decisions. “There are no unlawful practices in our operations,” it declared firmly.
The Bigger Picture: Who’s Behind Gold Medalist?
Gold Medalist isn’t just Kim Soo-hyun’s home base. Rising stars like Seol In-ah and Choi Hyun-wook are also on its roster. So when whispers of financial foul play emerge, it doesn’t just rattle K-drama fans — it sends ripples through the wider entertainment industry.
What’s Next?
For now, Gold Medalist has made its stance clear: It’s business as usual, not business gone rogue. But with growing pressure for transparency in K-entertainment finances, this likely isn’t the last accounting drama we’ll see.
This begs the question: As K-content dominates global screens, will the behind-the-scenes paperwork get the same spotlight?
