Singer Sung Si-kyung has been found to have operated his agency for a decade without proper registration.

Local media outlet Sports Kyunghyang reported on Tuesday that Sung did not register his agency SK Jaewon as a pop culture and arts planning business under Korean entertainment law.

SK Jaewon is run by Sung’s older sister and exclusively manages the singer since his contract with Jellyfish Entertainment ended in 2018. SK Jaewon has been in business since 2011.

Korean law mandates that failure to formally register corporations or businesses with more than one employee in the entertainment business can result in criminal charges. These include business suspension, a sentence of up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($14,000).

“Our company was established in February 2011 in accordance with the laws at the time. The law mandating registration for talent agencies was enacted in January 2014,” SK Jaewon said in a statement after the allegations surfaced.

"We were unaware of this newly established law and did not complete the required registration procedures. We have now begun the registration process and are doing our best to complete the necessary procedures. We deeply apologize for this matter."

This incident follows a similar case involving musical theater star Ok Joo-hyun, who was also found last week to have operated talent agencies for years without proper registration.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]