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Dokdo resident pays tax

January 28, 2014

Kim Seong-do, 74, holds a receipt for the value-added tax the Dokdo resident paid for what he earned from the sale of Dokdo-related souvenirs last year, at the National Tax Service, Monday. (Courtesy of NTS)

By Choi Kyong-ae

Korea has collected value-added tax from the only household in Dokdo for the first time in the country’s history, the National Tax Service said Monday.

On Monday, Kim Seong-do, 74, paid 193,000 won (about $180) in value-added tax for his earnings from the sale of Dokdo-related souvenirs last year, the NTS said in a statement.

“I am so proud of being able to pay tax on the income earned in Dokdo to the country,” Kim Jin-hee quoted her father as saying.

He will continue to sell the souvenirs such as T-shirts, name card holders and handkerchiefs on the disputed islets, called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, the 41-year-old daughter said by telephone.

Kim started the retail business in May last year and earned a total of 21.28 million won in sales for the eight months ended in December, the statement said.

“He received a business license and paid tax on what he earned for the first time as a Dokdo resident,” an NTS official said. “It will help strengthen the status of Dokdo as part of the Republic of Korea.”

The tax authorities gave Kim a wireless credit card reader free of charge to help him receive payments for the souvenirs from those who visit the islands, the official said.

Kim was invited to a charity bazaar held by the NTS in Seoul to sell the Dokdo-related items to NTS officials early this month, he said.

Kim and his wife have lived on Dokdo for more than 50 years as the only permanent residents of the islets, his daughter said.