‘Active Duty Soldier Cha Eun-woo’ Videos All Made ‘Private’
Following the Advertising Industry’s ‘Cha Eun-woo Removal,’ the Military Changes Stance
All videos featuring singer and actor Cha Eun-woo on the Defense Media Agency’s (KFN) YouTube channel have disappeared. The Ministry of Defense, which had actively used Cha Eun-woo, an active duty soldier, for promotion, is understood to have severed ties due to negative public opinion concerning his ‘tax evasion’ issues.
As of the 28th, Cha Eun-woo’s appearances in the ‘That Day’s Military Story’ series have been set to private on the KFN YouTube channel. Cha became a ‘storyteller’ for the series, which involved introducing military-related history since joining the army in July last year. A recent video covered the story of Colonel Dean Hess, a U.S. soldier who evacuated over 1,000 war orphans to Jeju Island during the Korean War.
However, these videos have now been removed from the channel, with KFN not providing any announcement regarding this decision.
Cha Eun-woo has reportedly received a notice from the National Tax Service to pay an additional income tax of around 20 billion KRW. The agency believes Cha utilized a loophole by making management service contracts with a paper company registered in his mother’s name, thus receiving a corporate tax rate over 20 percentage points lower than the maximum income tax rate of 45%.
Amid the expanding tax evasion controversy, advertisers have started a ‘Cha Eun-woo removal’ campaign. Shinhan Bank and skincare brand Abib have taken down his advertisements and images from YouTube and other platforms. On the 26th, Cha Eun-woo issued a public apology on Instagram, stating, “I sincerely apologize for causing concern and disappointment to many people.”