18 Months, 18 Ads: Baby Jae-i Now Pays Income Tax

At just 18 months old, Jae-i — the daughter of veteran Korean comedian Park Soo-hong and his wife Kim Da-ye — has officially joined the ranks of South Korea's taxpayers. The news broke on May 8, 2026, when Kim Da-ye shared a photo on her Instagram Stories showing a comprehensive income tax filing notice from Korea's National Tax Service, bearing her baby daughter's name. Alongside a studio portrait of the tiny model, Kim Da-ye wrote the now-viral caption: "A patriot who pays taxes from age 1."

The post swept through Korean entertainment media and social networks within hours, sparking a mix of laughter, admiration, and genuine disbelief. What started as a casual parenting update became one of the most-shared celebrity family stories of the week — a charming collision of modern Korean celebrity culture, baby modeling, and tax law.

From IVF to the Ad Studio: The Story Behind Baby Jae-i

To understand how an 18-month-old could owe income tax, it helps to know a little about Jae-i's parents and the road that brought her into the world. Park Soo-hong is one of South Korea's most recognizable comedic personalities, a variety show veteran who has appeared on television since the 1990s. Known for his easygoing humor and genuine warmth on screen, he built a decades-long career as a beloved MC and comedian.

He married Kim Da-ye in 2021 — a union that drew attention given their 23-year age gap — with a formal ceremony following in 2022. The couple's path to parenthood was not easy. After undergoing IVF treatment, they welcomed daughter Jae-i in October 2024, a moment that Park Soo-hong described as deeply personal and joyful.

From early on, Jae-i captured public attention through the family's YouTube channel, "박수홍 행복해다홍" (Park Soo-hong, Happy Together), where the couple has shared their parenting journey with hundreds of thousands of followers. The family also appeared on KBS 2TV's long-running celebrity parenting show Superman Returns (슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다), which gave even more audiences a window into Jae-i's daily life and unmistakable charm.

It did not take long for Korea's advertising industry to come calling. With large, expressive eyes and a naturally camera-friendly presence, Jae-i began attracting brand partnerships before she could walk. By the time she reached 18 months old, she had completed approximately 18 advertising projects — roughly one deal per month since birth — spanning children's clothing, baby product brands, and social media content campaigns.

The Tax Notice That Made Headlines

Kim Da-ye's Instagram post on May 8 was a simple two-image snapshot, but its contents sent Korean entertainment media into a frenzy. One image showed Jae-i beaming in a pretty dress during an apparent studio shoot. The other was a document from the National Tax Service of Korea, labeled "2025년 귀속 종합소득세 확정신고 안내" — a comprehensive income tax filing notice for income earned during 2025, addressed to a child not yet two years old.

In South Korea, comprehensive income tax (종합소득세, or jongso-se) applies to individuals who earn income beyond a certain threshold through freelance or business activities. The arrival of such a notice under Jae-i's name confirmed that her advertising revenue had crossed that threshold — making her, almost certainly, one of the youngest income taxpayers in the country's history.

Kim Da-ye punctuated the post with a surprised emoji, then added in a follow-up comment: "What luck. I'm so incredibly grateful." The combination of humor and genuine gratitude struck a chord with audiences, many of whom appreciated the family's light-hearted approach to an otherwise extraordinary situation.

Booked Solid: The Schedule of a Baby Model

The tax notice was a natural outcome of an unusually packed schedule. According to multiple Korean media reports, Jae-i's advertising bookings are currently stacked nine weeks in advance — a remarkable pipeline of work for a toddler who is only just beginning to string words together.

The brands that have sought out Jae-i tend to focus on the baby and parenting category, where her approachable, bright image has proven to be effective for family-oriented marketing campaigns. Her parents have been measured in how they manage her public exposure, balancing commercial opportunities with the priorities of raising a young child.

"The love calls from the advertising world just keep coming," one Korean outlet noted, adding that Jae-i's combination of natural photogeneity and the goodwill associated with her father's public persona has made her an unusually sought-after face for Korean brands targeting young families. The symmetry of her story — 18 months old, 18 ads, one tax notice — became a talking point in its own right.

Fan Reaction: The Internet's Favorite Baby Taxpayer

Once the story broke, Korean entertainment fans reacted with a chorus of delight and disbelief across social media platforms. Comments celebrated the milestone as a uniquely modern celebrity story — one that blends universal parenting humor with the distinctly Korean entertainment industry's appetite for baby celebrities and family content.

Many fans praised Kim Da-ye for her light-hearted approach to the situation, noting that the couple's willingness to share genuine family moments — the funny alongside the heartwarming — has made their social media presence one of the warmest in Korean celebrity culture. Others simply marveled at the math: 18 months, 18 ads, and now a tax bill.

Industry observers have also pointed to the broader trend at work. The rise of "baby celebrities" in South Korea — children of famous parents who build their own public following through family content on YouTube and Instagram — has accelerated significantly in recent years. Jae-i's case is an extreme example, but it reflects a genuine shift in how celebrity families engage with audiences and monetize that engagement, with children increasingly at the center of the frame.

The concept of a toddler filing income taxes captured public imagination in a way that few celebrity stories do, cutting across age groups and generating coverage far beyond typical entertainment media into general news and social commentary.

What Comes Next for Jae-i

With her schedule booked weeks out and the family's YouTube channel continuing to grow, Jae-i shows no immediate signs of slowing her commercial activity. Whether she eventually follows in her father's entertainment footsteps — or charts an entirely different path once she is old enough to have an opinion on the matter — remains to be seen.

For now, she has already accomplished something that very few people of any age can claim: at 18 months old, she is a contributing member of South Korea's national tax base. Park Soo-hong and Kim Da-ye have indicated through their social media that they are navigating the spotlight around their daughter thoughtfully, aware that early public exposure carries both opportunity and responsibility.

The couple's openness about their journey — including the challenges of IVF and the personal trials that preceded their life as a family of three — has resonated deeply with Korean audiences who have followed their story from the beginning. As for Jae-i herself, she remains blissfully unaware that she has become one of the most talked-about names in Korean celebrity news this week, and almost certainly the most adorable taxpayer in the country.