Average of 382 Minors Registered as Business Heads in South Korea
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South Korean corporate registries listed an annual average of 382 minors as company heads between 2021 and 2025. The figure comes from National Health Insurance Service records released on Monday.
Around 21 of those minor representatives drew annual salaries topping 100 million won ($72,200). That group included at least one child aged five or younger.
Concentration in property and retail entities
State health insurance data obtained by lawmaker Moon Jin-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea showed 1,909 total minor registrations over the five-year period. The total reflects workplace enrollments where minors were registered as executive representatives. Individual children may appear across multiple years.
Older children formed the largest cohort. An average of 151 representatives were aged 11 to 15, while 129 were aged 16 to 18. Another 81 were aged six to 10, and 22 were aged five or younger. Among the 21 minors earning more than 100 million won each year, 12 were aged 11 to 15, six were aged 16 to 18, two were aged six to 10, and one was five or younger.
Corporate filings reveal the listings sit almost entirely in asset-holding vehicles. Of the 100 highest-earning minors examined across the five years, 95 ran businesses in real estate, leasing and commercial services. Four operated in wholesale, retail and consumer repair. One ran a manufacturing business.
“Of the 100 highest-earning minors examined across the five years, 95 ran businesses in real estate, leasing and commercial services.”
Capital region dominates executive listings
Seoul accounted for the vast majority of registrations, averaging 237 minor heads per year. Surrounding Gyeonggi Province logged 69. Incheon recorded 23, and the southern port city of Busan registered 19.
These figures point to family-owned holding structures in metropolitan property markets rather than operating businesses run by young founders. Wealthy families in South Korea routinely establish corporate entities to hold commercial properties, retail shopfronts and land parcels to manage inheritance and gift tax exposure.
Scrutiny over family income transfers
Such practices complicate oversight for tax authorities and corporate regulators tracking intergenerational wealth transfers. Appointing non-working minor children as corporate representatives lets family offices distribute operational cash flow, salaries and corporate dividends across multiple tax brackets.
Regulators across East Asia are checking whether nominal company heads perform actual management functions. For retail landlords and commercial property developers, dealing with entities fronted by underage representatives creates friction during contract execution, lease renewals and legal compliance filings.
Calls for joint tax investigations
Moon called on the National Tax Service and the NHIS to launch joint investigations into the practice. The inquiry would determine whether family-run corporations use representative registrations to disguise taxable gifts and shift parent earnings to children.
Commercial law does not bar minors from holding corporate representative titles. Even so, tax regulators are weighing audits to test whether salaries paid to underage executives match bona fide operational duties.