Lee Ha-nee's branch of a single-person agency = Explaining the controversy over the beef soup restaurant, "It's just a rental..It has nothing to do with business." [Official]

*This content was translated by AI.

Amid controversy over the fact that a branch of a one-person agency founded by actor Lee Ha-nee was registered as a gomtang restaurant, Lee Ha-nee dismissed it as "only a rental relationship."

"The address is not the main office, but the address of the workplace where the rental business is carried out, and is registered as a branch in accordance with the administrative procedures for business registration," Lee Ha-nee said through his agency Tim Hope on the 9th. "Currently, the building has been operating the same store at the same place for more than 10 years since before the acquisition, and has no separate business relationship with the Hope Project."

Hope Project is a one-man agency run by Lee Ha-nee. After establishing "Hani Co., Ltd." in 2015, Lee Ha-nee changed its name to the current "Hope Project" through "Lee Rye-yoon."

Lee Ha-nee explained, "The Hope Project signed a sales contract by comprehensively reviewing various possibilities, including business planning in connection with wellness, providing work spaces for creation and content development, supporting emerging artists, and operating academy-type programs, focusing on creating a complex cultural and artistic space at the time of acquisition."

"It took about three years to complete the transfer of ownership due to disputes between stakeholders after the seller's death," he said. "In the meantime, related laws have been revised, and the lease contract has been renewed and maintained as existing tenants have expressed their desire to continue their operations." In the process, the corporate utilization plan, which was initially reviewed, is currently on hold," he added.

Timhoff also stressed that "the property is not an asset invested for the purpose of capital gains" and that "related rental income is normally managed in accordance with corporate accounting standards."

In addition, "The restaurant is an independently operated business site by the tenant of the building, and we are simply renting the building," he said. "We are concerned that if the business site is exposed together during the reporting process, it could have a negative impact on the tenant's business." I would appreciate your consideration in this regard," he said.

MBC's current affairs and culture program "Exploration Planning Straight" took issue with the branch address of Lee Ha-nee's agency "Hope Project" following the group Astro member and actor Cha Eun-woo's one-man agency "Eeljip," which was recently fined 20 billion won through the one-person agency "Attention?" on the 8th. Gomtang restaurant near a large university hospital in Hannam-dong, Seoul, turned out to be the branch address of the "Hope Project."

Lee Ha-nee served as CEO and in-house director of the company until January 2023. Currently, it is reported that her husband, identified only by his surname Jang, is the CEO and Lee Ha-nui is the in-house director.

The production team of "Exploration Planning Straight" pointed out, "There was no space that seemed to be an entertainment agency anywhere in the restaurant building," and the president of the Gomtang restaurant declined to say to the production team, saying, "It's about the agency, but it's kind of hard to tell you exactly." The production team also visited the main branch, Hope Project, to confirm, but said they had not heard anything.

Meanwhile, Lee Ha-nee was fined about 6 billion won in 2024 on charges of tax evasion through a single-person agency. However, Lee Ha-nee said at the time, "Although the announced additional tax amount was paid in full, we did not agree with the interpretation of the tax authorities, so we have filed an objection procedure with the Tax Tribunal."

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*This content was translated by AI.