Luxury girl taken to court

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sun, October 1, 2023 | 20:42

Luxury girl taken to court

Posted : 2010-09-12 19:10

Updated : 2010-09-12 19:10

A jobless daughter of rich parents can freely brag about her luxurious life on a cable TV program. But it could become a wholly different matter when the issue of gift tax is raised.

Kim Kyung-ah

By Park Si-soo

A jobless daughter of rich parents can freely brag about her luxurious life on a cable TV program. But it could become a wholly different matter when the issue of gift tax is raised.

Appearing on m.net’s “Tent in the City” that was aired on Tuesday, the 24-year-old girl, Kim Kyung-ah, bragged that her outfit and accessories she was wearing were worth more than 400 million won ($343,000).

Introducing herself as jobless, she said “pocket money” given by her parents has enabled her to buy luxury clothes, accessories and travel overseas at any time.

In a self-filmed clip at her house, Kim boasted that her car was worth more than 300 million won and other designer-brand clothes along with accessories on display at her home in an upscale district in southern Seoul.

Her bragging caused a huge stir on the Internet and irked many. And a question was raised among netizens whether the girl, now famously known as the “400-milliion-won luxury girl,” is subject to any gift taxes.

Following the episode, the National Tax Service (NTS)’s website was bombarded with articles by angry citizens, who called for an intense tax audit of her parents.

“Her lavish spending was impossible without financial support from her parents,” an article read. “The authorities need to audit them to check whether they took appropriate steps to hand down their wealth to the daughter.”

Under the law, the maximum amount in gifts to the second generation without paying tax is set at 30 million won. At a session of the National Assembly, NTS head Lee Hyun-dong promised lawmakers it will look into the case.

However, as the tax authorities are moving to launch a tax audit to find any irregularities in maintaining her spending spree, the 24-year-old woman ate her words.

She said she was not as rich as shown by the program and insisted she just “acted” based on a script provided by staff, indicating that the non-fiction program was, as a matter of fact, fabricated to attract viewers’ attention.

But the program’s producer, m.net, an entertainment-only channel, is balking at her allegation, saying the program was not scripted and her lavish spending shown in the episode was clearly “real.”

For its part, the state broadcasting regulator said it will open an investigation into the program this week to check their clashing claims.

‘4억 명품녀’ 1억원 손해배상 소송제기

최근 케이블TV Mnet의 ‘텐트인더시티’에 출연해 ‘4억 명품녀’로 지칭된 김경아씨(24)가 Mnet미디어와 프로그램 제작진을 상대로 1억원의 손해배상 청구소송을 제기했다. 김씨는 언론 인터뷰에서 자신을 김씨의 전 남편이라고 밝힌 문모씨도 명예훼손 등의 혐의로 고소해 명품녀 논란은 이제 법정에서 시비를 가리게 됐다.

김씨는 Mnet 프로그램에서 부모의 재산으로 호화스러운 생활을 하는 여성으로 소개됐고 출연 당시 몸에 걸친 것만 4억원이 넘는다고 밝혀 ‘4억 명품녀’로 알려졌다. 방송 후 김씨와 김씨 부모에 대해 세무조사를 해야 한다는 등 비난 여론이 높아졌으나 김씨는 “제작진이 과장 방송을 했다”고 주장하며 억울함을 호소해왔다.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr