South Korea rejects K-pop star’s harassment complaint: ‘Exploitation is accepted’

Following these statements, the video was deleted, while fans of the group filed a complaint in the form of a petition with the Ministry of Employment and Labor in mid-September. The latter ruled on the status of this request, rejecting the claims of harassment at work this Wednesday. The motive? K-pop stars cannot be considered employees under the country’s labor laws, and therefore do not have the same rights.

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South Korea’s entertainment industry is known for its high-pressure environment, where celebrities are held to strict standards on their appearance and behavior. These harsh working conditions were the subject of a hearing into bullying in the music industry. At the latter, Vietnamese-Australian singer Hanni (real name Pham Ngoc Han) told a label executive and lawmakers that she felt “the company hated us.”

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But faced with these statements, and the petition addressed to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, South Korea turns a deaf ear. According to the government, the nature of Hanni’s income is considered “profit sharing rather than salary”. The singer, and K-pop stars in general, pay a corporate income tax rather than a worker income tax. To this end, the ministry rejected all allegations, pointing to the content and nature of the management contract signed by Hanni.

“Individuals must meet the criteria of the Labor Standards Act to be considered workers. This includes having fixed working hours and providing labor under the supervision and control direct from the employer Celebrities, including singers, are generally considered independent contractors.said Chunghwan Choi, senior partner at Yulchon Law Firm in Seoul.

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While the affected singer has not commented on the government’s response to her situation, CedarBough Saeji, assistant professor of Korean and East Asian studies at Pusan ​​National University in South Korea, calls it “completely unfair and yet hardly surprising”.

“Exploitation of workers is accepted because they are not regular employees and there is no union, or any government agency to advocate for humane working conditions for them”adds Chunghwan Choi, in comments relayed by our colleagues from the BBC. There is currently no specific law in South Korea that protects the rights of celebrities or artists, he further explains, specifying that this “highlights the urgent need for reforms to address long-standing problems in the entertainment industry.”