The LCK Launches an Investigation about Ruler's Tax Case

The saga surrounding Park "" Jae-hyuk’s tax case continues. On Wednesday, the LCK released a statement announcing that it has opened an investigation, with an independent committee of external experts set to handle the case. As a reminder, on March 26, the National Tax Law Information System made public a court ruling originally issued nearly two years earlier, on August 31, 2024.

In that decision, Gen.G’s star AD Carry was, on appeal, ordered by the South Korean tax authorities to pay additional sums following identified irregularities involving his father. Ruler flagged for two matters: first, expenses he considered as payments to his father, who acted according to him as his manager, but which the court deemed inadmissible; and second, a reassessment of dividend income that had been received under his father’s name in a title trust arrangement.

"To ensure a fair and objective process, the committee will conduct the inquiry with the participation of independent external experts," the LCK said. They also clarified that no provisional measures are being applied for the time being, though this could change later. Ruler will therefore be able to play the start of the regular season alongside Gen.G. The Tigers will make their debut on Friday, April 3, against , followed by on Sunday, April 5.

The AD Carry also spoke out about the situation in a lengthy post on his Instagram account, apologizing for the situation and providing clarification on the events that have emerged in recent days. In his statement, Ruler shared his version of events — more or less the same as his agency, Supergent, shared on Monday: "I did not intentionally hide or conceal any income. However, two issues arose in the course of managing my assets."

The player stated in his message, once again, that in 2018, his father left his job to focus full-time on his career, handling manager-type responsibilities. "We applied the labor costs for those activities as necessary business expenses, but the National Tax Service did not recognize those as deductible expenses." Regarding the asset management issue, Ruler stated that he has paid the penalties and transferred all shares, previously under his father’s name, into his.