It looks like these luxury brands may be the next target of South Korean tax authorities as they finish with Starbucks:
The National Tax Service’s (NTS) special audit of Starbucks Korea could be a warning sign for other multinational corporations here suspected of tax evasion.
Korea Times
The tax probe of the U.S. multinational coffeehouse brand seemed to be an irregular one that the tax agency could have launched against any firm operating in the country suspected of evading tax.
The NTS has been probing offshore tax evasion since the beginning of this year, mainly targeting multinational tech companies and imposing 1.33 trillion won in penalties for tax evasion. Companies generating over 150 billion won in sales are subject to a special audit.
In this case, luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton could also be targets.
You can read more at the link.
The BLM protests have spread even to South Korea:
A group of activists held a rally in central Seoul on Saturday to voice their support for the anti-racism movement in the United States that flared up after the death of George Floyd.
Korea Times
Some 100 people participated in the rally, which was held in Myeongdong, central Seoul. Clad in black, they later marched toward Cheonggye Stream, with some holding pickets reading “Black Lives Matter.”
The rally was organized to support the BLM movement that has been spreading across the U.S. and around the world following the death of Floyd, a black American, at the hands of a white police officer.
You can read more at the link.
Here is an opinion piece in the Asia Times by Jason Morgan, an associate professor at Reitaku University in Japan, that calls for the release of former President Park Geun-hye:
In late 2016, in a journalistic feeding frenzy of rumors and innuendo, Park’s close friend Choi Soon-sil was accused of Svengali-like behavior. Millions of South Koreans, deeply disturbed by the chicanery of those in high office, hit the streets. Impeachment followed, and the hysteria carried over to Park’s subsequent trial.
But do rumors and headlines translate into hard facts? Despite glaring inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case and cavalier refusals to follow due process, Park was impeached, convicted, and hit with a compound sentence of 33 years behind bars. In a country where a murderer may face 12 years, that is an astonishing punishment.
The evidence used against Park was based on media reportage, not objective proof. Her trial was held four days a week, making it nearly impossible for her defense team to prepare. Meanwhile, the media and prosecution kept up an onslaught of innuendo.
When it came to allegations of corruption, Park was convicted of “implicit solicitation.” Since there was no evidence of wrongdoing and the court was unable to prove that Park had committed any crime, the judiciary introduced the concept of implicit solicitation – which by definition means that there is no evidence.
Park has not been found to have received a single penny from the alleged corruption – a crime the prosecutor’s office has been frantically looking for ever since the 2016 scandal erupted, without success.
Asia Times
You can read more at the link, but these are all facts we have covered here before, but it is good to see them spreading to other media publications. However, with the Moon administration’s control of the Korean media and the international media’s love affair with President Moon, I suspect that Park will be languishing in prison for quite some time.
Here is what Ambassador Harris had to say about the protests and riots back in the U.S.:
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris has condemned opportunistic looters who take advantage of peaceful protests against racism as a cover for their crimes in his country.
Korea Times
“Most demonstrators across the United States today are formed in peaceful protests against racism, bigotry and hatred. I stand with them. I share the conviction that those beliefs have no place in our society,” Harris said on Facebook Friday.
“To be clear, however, I do not stand with those who use peaceful protest as a cover for vandalism, mayhem, and wanton destruction.
“And to those voices ― and there are some, already ― who take perverse pleasure in what is happening in America today … to them I say we’ll emerge a better country and a stronger democracy … and we won’t forget.”
You can read more at the link.
This is going to be the new normal for a while of cluster infections popping up at indoor locations where people work or congregate:
A health product retailer is emerging as a new coronavirus cluster in the Seoul metropolitan area, officials said Friday.
The densely-populated area has been hit by a string of cluster infections originating from call centers, clubs, churches and warehouses.
According to quarantine authorities, the number of COVID-19 cases traced to the health product seller, called Richway, located in Seoul’s southwestern ward of Gwanak, increased by 19 from the previous day to 29 as of Friday noon. Eighteen of the 29 patients are from Seoul, with Gyeonggi, Incheon and South Chungcheong accounting for five, four and two, respectively.
The authorities are concerned, as most of Richway customers are in their 60s and 70s, who are known as the most vulnerable group for the coronavirus.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The Moon administration needs money for all their lofty plans for North Korea, so this should be a warning to all international corporations operating in South Korea that the taxman is coming:
Starbucks Korea is being investigated over allegations of tax evasion, mostly via overpricing goods and services imported from its head office in the U.S., according to industry and tax administration sources, Thursday.
Korea Times
Officials from the National Tax Service (NTS) Seoul Office’s international trade investigation department have seized accounting records and data preserved online at the global coffee giant’s office in the capital, following multiple searches that began in mid-May.
The Korean office allegedly sought to inflate the cost of raw materials such as coffee beans and others products for sale or needed for maintenance at its over 1,370 branches here, in what is widely known as “transfer pricing.”
You can read more at the link.
