SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A member of chart-topping K-pop group NewJeans tearfully testified to South Korean lawmakers Tuesday as part of an enquiry into workplace harassment, amid a boardroom drama over her super producer.
In recent years, South Korea’s K-pop industry has become a global juggernaut powered by the success of groups like BTS, but domestically it is known for imposing strict standards and controls on fledgling stars.
Rising K-pop idols are expected to adhere to their powerful agency’s behavior and appearance guidelines, with many stars describing receiving extreme backlash from fans over perceived mistakes in their personal lives, for example dating.
Hanni, 20, who is Vietnamese-Australian, testified that she overheard a manager of another idol group linked to her parent agency instructing members of another girl group to spurn her.
“I saw a manager along with three members from another group and said hello... When the manager saw me, she told the members to ‘ignore her as if you didn’t see her,’” she told lawmakers.
“I could not understand why I had to go through this.”
Hanni acknowledged that the ongoing dispute between the parent company and Min was related to the bullying she had experienced.
“It couldn’t have been unrelated. But they didn’t need to bring that issue into the workplace,” she said.
“I felt I couldn’t just sit idly by while such behavior continued to repeat,” she added, noting NewJeans members had been subjected to other unfair treatment by HYBE, such as discrediting their performance in Japan.
The alleged event took place amid a dispute between NewJeans’ producer and mastermind, Min Hee-jin, and HYBE, the South Korean agency that manages BTS, after HYBE filed a legal complaint against Min for breach of trust in business.