SOUTH KOREA: K-pop group New Jeans singer Hanni has testified to South Korean authorities about how she was harassed at work.
The 20-year-old star said that the entertainment agency Hybe had purposely undermined her band and alleged that senior managers had deliberately ignored her.
The BBC reported the Vietnamese-Australian performer had testified to the Labour Committee of South Korea’s National Assembly on Tuesday at a hearing about workplace harassment.
The harassment hearing came after New Jeans spoke up about their treatment following the dismissal of their mentor, Min Hee-Jin.
“I hope this won’t happen to my seniors, juniors, colleagues, and trainees. If we respect them as human beings, I believe there will be no bullying or ostracism in the workplace”#NewJeans #Hanni attended the audit of the Economic, Social & Labor Council and Environment & Labor… pic.twitter.com/sEk0JVNd4Q
— KoreanUpdates! (@KoreanUpdates) October 15, 2024
The group posted on a YouTube account demanding Min’s reinstatement and said she had suffered from workplace harassment.
Hanni spoke about her own experience, saying that during one event, when she greeted the members of another band at the record label’s office, one of the managers had instructed the band to “ignore her.”
She did report the incident, but she was scoffed at.
“I came to the realization this wasn’t just a feeling. I was honestly convinced that the company hated us,” she said.
She spoke about another incident where three singers from another band and their manager had walked past, and the manager specifically told the group, “Ignore her like you didn’t see her”.
Hanni said there were numerous such incidents where senior members of Hybe management had ignored her.
“Since my debut [in New Jeans], we ran into a person in a high-up position many times, but they never greet me when I greet them.
I understood from living in Korea that I have to be polite to older people, and that’s part of the culture, but I think it’s disrespectful as a human being not to greet us, regardless of our professional status.
There was a certain give [of disrespect] that I felt within the company,” she said.
Hanni also told the lawmakers she had seen employees speaking ill about New Jeans on the Blind app (an application similar to Teams or Slack).
In addition, she said that Hybe’s public relations department had also asked a journalist to downplay New Jeans’ achievements in an article.
Hanni ended the session in tears, stating how frustrated she was at how the internal dispute had overshadowed the band’s career.
“A lot of people have been worried about us. Some fans apologized for making us go through this, but I’m grateful to Korea for allowing me to do what I love.
The ones who should be apologizing are avoiding responsibility, and that frustrates me,” she expressed her feelings.
New Jeans was the eighth biggest-selling group in the world last year, and they were nominated for best group at the 2023 MTV Awards.
The group comprises five girls: Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein. All of them are between 16 and 20 years old.