Hani of the group New Jeans ended up crying during the National Assembly’s inspection, claiming ‘bullying in the workplace’. Kim Joo-young, CEO of Adore, also appeared to be choking up and said, “It’s unfortunate and we will strengthen communication.”
At 2:30 p.m. on the 15th, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee (Hanhwa-Labor Committee) conducted a government audit on ‘idol bullying and workplace harassment’ targeting agencies affiliated with the Economic, Social and Labor Committee and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. New Jeans’ Hani attended the scene as a witness, and Adore’s CEO Kim Joo-young attended the scene as a witness.
On this day, Hani first explained again the claim that another label manager made a ‘ignore’ statement last June. At the same time, he claimed ‘bullying in the workplace’, saying, “I was convinced that the company hated us.”
In response, Kim Joo-young, CEO of Adore, said, “I think I took all the various measures I could have taken as an inside director of Adore at the time, but given that Mr. Hani had such feelings and came to this situation, I wonder if there was something I could have done a little better. “I see it,” he said.
In response, Hani said, “I don’t think (CEO Kim Joo-young) did his best,” and criticized, “There were enough things they could have done. They said they would protect us, but they had no will to apologize. There was no action or will.” He then emphasized, “If I tell you that I hope you will do your best in the future, this problem will also be overcome. I hope you resolve this problem before talking about the future.”
In response, CEO Kim responded, “As you said, Hani, we will listen to the voices of artists and strengthen communication. Also, in the current situation, there are parts where the parties have conflicting claims. It is important to confirm the facts.” He added, “We will do our best to cooperate with the ongoing Labor Office investigation to clearly reveal the facts.”
Lawmakers from each party continued to question CEO Kim, emphasizing that ‘artists are also members of the company who must be protected.’ CEO Kim responded, “Under the relevant laws, I understand that artists are not considered workers, but mutual respect between artists and members is very important,” and “In a broad sense, artists are also members.”
In response to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Hyeong-dong’s question about the ‘contract between Hani and the company’, Hani said, “The contracts between artists and trainees may be different, but what is not different is that we are all human. I think there are a lot of people who miss that.” He answered:
Regarding this, CEO Kim said, “I feel very sorry for causing such controversy. As the CEO, I tried to provide as much help and respect as possible. If there is anything to apologize for, I will apologize.”
In her final remarks after the committee members’ questions, Hani said, “I’ve thought about this a lot while going through this, and of course, I know that laws can’t solve all the problems in the world,” and then shed tears. Hani then cried and added, “If you respect me as a human being, I think at least there won’t be a problem of harassment and bullying in the workplace. I hope other seniors, other classmates, juniors, and trainees won’t have to worry about this.”
Representative Kim also appeared to be a bit choked up in his last remarks and said, “I am very grateful for the points pointed out by various committee members today,” and added, “I will carefully listen to what you said and go back and implement it really well.” He then emphasized, “We will listen more carefully to the voices of artists, including Hani, and protect the human rights and human rights of artists more carefully so that they can realize their dreams and hopes.”
He said, “I am the new CEO and it has been only about a month and a half since I became a director. If you trust me and give me a little more time, I will create a better company that will give back to society and those who care about K-pop a lot.” “he added.
Earlier on this day, Hani arrived at the National Assembly at 1:24 p.m. Hani did not receive any special questions, but when asked to say something to her fans, she said briefly, “I don’t have to say anything because the fans know even if I don’t have to say it,” and headed to the elevator.
With the National Assembly inspection of Hani and CEO Kim Joo-young over, ‘workplace bullying’ is an act of using one’s superiority in the workplace to go beyond the scope of work and cause physical or mental pain to other workers or worsen the working environment, so celebrities are recognized as workers. The question of whether to do so remains. Typically, celebrities such as singers and actors have been classified as special workers and not considered workers.
Meanwhile, Hani conducted an emergency live broadcast on YouTube with her New Genes colleagues on the 11th of last month. At the time, Hani said, “Not long ago, I ran into another idol member and their manager at a makeup place where I often encounter other idol teams, and I heard the manager say ‘ignore me’ so loudly that I could hear it.” He also said, “When I heard that there was nothing they could do because there was no evidence, I thought that there were no people who could protect us and that they had no intention of protecting us.” He added, “I instantly felt like a liar.” After these remarks, claims were made that New Genes members were being harassed at work, and a complaint was filed with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
Accordingly, Hive label Belif Lab released an official statement on the 7th, saying, “We strongly demand that attempts to disparage new artists with groundless personnel controversies be stopped immediately.” He also said, “The members in charge of our protocol use honorifics and titles to artists, so the fact that they say ‘ignore’ is itself inconsistent with objective facts. They claim that ‘the video telling them to ignore has been deleted,’ but the CCTV audio was recorded.” “Because it doesn’t work, this also cannot be established,” he refuted.
Economy Queen Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon Photo News1 National Assembly Photo Reporter
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