The Korea Times’ ongoing settlement process with the government agency over $8 million in back federal income taxes has fallen apart.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California announced on October 18 that it has not reached a conclusion in its ongoing settlement process with the Korea Times, in a report on the results of the first round of discussions and mediation regarding the newspaper company’s back taxes.
Previously in December 2023, federal prosecutors filed a civil lawsuit in the court, alleging that the newspaper failed to pay a total of $7.96 million to the Internal Revenue Service between 2011 and 2013.
Since then, the two sides have held several meetings to work out a pretrial settlement under the guidance of Judge Brianna Mircheff.
However, the court said last month on September 26 that the two parties were unable to reach an agreement to pay the taxes and adjust the amount.
According to the District Attorney’s original complaint, the Korea Times currently owes $5.6 million in income taxes on the principal amount of debt relief provided by Goldman Sachs in 2011, plus interest, penalties, and collection fees. The company had claimed that the amount was unreasonable and could not be paid.
The Korea Times has been engaged in tense negotiations with the federal government since 2012 to reduce the amount of taxes, but the two sides have reportedly been unable to reach an agreement due to the large gap in the amounts each side offered.
The court said that during the settlement negotiations, the defendant submitted extensive financial documents totaling more than 430 pages with the help of an accountant. At the same time, the plaintiff said it would also conduct an appraisal of two properties owned by the Korea Times in New York and New Jersey based on the documents. This is believed to be in case the company is unable to pay the arrears after the court’s final judgment.
The two sides will meet again on December 7 for a second round of settlement discussions. Apart from the settlement process, the deadline for submitting additional evidence and materials for the formal trial has been set for April 3, 2025. The Korea Times is currently represented by attorney Pio Kim of LimNexus LLP.
BY BRIAN CHOI, HOONSIK WOO [choi.inseong@koreadaily.com]
