Actor Kim Soo Hyun is now facing renewed scrutiny—not for his acting, but for the financial practices of his current agency Gold Medalist.

After returning from the military, Kim moved to Gold Medalist in 2019, a company that quickly gained attention for its ties to his family. On paper, the agency is 100% owned by Bareun No.2 Investment Association. Yet insiders allege the true operator is Kim’s older brother Lee Ro Be (stage name Lee Sarang). Sources say Kim partially owns shares but mainly fulfills his role as the agency’s flagship actor, while Lee oversees most of the management.

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The legitimacy of Bareun No.2 has come under fire. Officially, the association not only owns Gold Medalist but also controls a KOSDAQ-listed online education firm currently under police and tax investigation for stock manipulation and tax evasion, claims the company has denied.

Adding to suspicion, Bareun No.2’s registered headquarters turned out to be a modest three-story building in Seoul’s Jangwi-dong. The second floor, supposedly its office, was actually occupied by a medical equipment company, with no signage indicating the presence of a multi-billion-won entertainment powerhouse.

Even more concerning are Gold Medalist’s reported settlement payments to its artists. Audit reports show that between 2020 and 2024, payouts totaled only ₩670 million KRW (about $483,000 USD), with annual amounts ranging from ₩52.0 million KRW (about $37,500 USD) to ₩270 million KRW (about $195,000 USD).

This is a startling figure considering the industry standard, where 80–90% of sales typically go to actors. The discrepancy stands out even more in 2024, the year Kim Soo Hyun’s tvN drama Queen of Tears became a global sensation. Media outlets credited the show with fueling the “fifth Korean Wave,” while Kim signed 16 brand endorsements including Prada, Homeplus, and Eider. Gold Medalist celebrated record annual sales surpassing ₩20.0 billion KRW (about $14.4 million USD),but only ₩2.70 billion KRW (about $1.95 million USD) was recorded as settlement fees, raising eyebrows.

Industry comparisons make the numbers look even more questionable:

• EDAM Entertainment (IU’s agency): 26.3 billion KRW in settlements (2023), 33.6 billion KRW (2024).

• ADOR (NewJeans’ agency): 29 billion (2023) and 23.8 billion (2024), averaging 9.3 billion per member.

• Hook Entertainment (Lee Seung Gi’s agency): Paid out 79% of sales as settlements over four years, despite recording net losses.

In Gold Medalist’s case, some years even saw meeting and entertainment expenses surpassing payouts to its own artists. Gold Medalist has responded by saying settlement details are personal information and therefore not disclosed.

“Artist payments are included in service revenue costs. It is misleading to calculate settlements solely based on the ‘payment commission’ line in our statements.”

However, many experts remain skeptical. Most agencies, they argue, openly reveal settlement data through audits, making Gold Medalist’s opacity all the more unusual.

With questions surrounding Bareun No.2’s legitimacy, the strangely low settlement payouts, and investigations linked to its extended business ties, Gold Medalist now faces suspicions of financial deception. Even as Kim Soo Hyun continues to dominate the screen and endorsement market, doubts remain about whether his agency is treating its artists, with the transparency expected in the Korean entertainment industry.