Broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok. [Yonhap]
Broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok. [Yonhap]

A video of broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok stepping away from a shoot to pay his taxes at a bank has gone viral — and the National Tax Service weighed in, leaving a comment on the clip to thank him.

The agency posted a comment on the first episode of the web variety show Punghyangjung, uploaded Saturday to the YouTube channel Deundeun, reading: "Jae-seok, thank you for your diligent tax payment."

It then used the moment to promote its mobile app, urging viewers to use the "Moduchaeeum service" on the Sontax mobile platform to file with zero fees — "the easy way."

The agency added that it looked forward to seeing him again next year "through faithful tax payment."

In the video, Yoo explained that the deadline was June 30 but he had been unable to go earlier because of a recording schedule, and that he needed to visit a bank to pay his taxes.

When fellow cast members suggested he put it off, Yoo pushed back. "Paying taxes is really important. Paying taxes is our duty," he said, adding: "This is how you pay taxes — with joy!"

The video surpassed 5 million views by Wednesday, just four days after its release.

Broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok. [YouTube channel 'Deundeun' screen capture]
Broadcaster Yoo Jae-seok. [YouTube channel 'Deundeun' screen capture]

Yoo is widely regarded as one of the entertainment industry's most exemplary taxpayers. A rigorous tax probe in 2024 found no irregularities, drawing public attention to his record of conscientious compliance.

A tax accountant later explained that Yoo's filing method differs from that of most entertainers: rather than keeping a full set of books, he uses the standard expense ratio method for estimated filing — an approach that eliminates any room for tax-evasion controversy.

According to the accountant, if Yoo earns 10 billion won ($7 million) in a year, the standard expense ratio method raises his taxable income to 9.12 billion won, resulting in a tax bill of 4.1 billion won — compared with the 2.7 billion won a typical entertainer would pay under the bookkeeping method.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com