SEOUL, South Korea – Hanni, a 20-year-old member of the popular K-pop group NewJeans, spoke to South Korean lawmakers on Tuesday about facing bullying in the workplace. This comes amid a larger conflict involving her group’s producer.
The K-pop industry, famous worldwide thanks to groups like BTS, is known in South Korea for having very strict rules. Rising stars, or “idols,” are expected to follow their agencies’ guidelines closely, including rules about their behavior and appearance. Many idols have faced harsh criticism for small personal mistakes, like dating.
Hanni, who is Vietnamese-Australian, tearfully shared an experience where a manager from another group, linked to her parent agency, told other idols to ignore her. “I saw a manager with three members from another group and said hello. But the manager told them to act like they didn’t see me,” Hanni said. “I didn’t understand why I had to go through this.”
This incident happened during a dispute between NewJeans’ producer, Min Hee-jin, and their agency, HYBE, which manages BTS. HYBE filed a legal complaint against Min, and she was replaced as the head of ADOR, the company managing NewJeans.
Hanni admitted that the bullying she faced might be related to the tension between Min and HYBE. “It couldn’t have been unrelated,” she said, adding that her group had also faced other unfair treatment. This included HYBE downplaying NewJeans’ performance in Japan.
Although the new ADOR CEO, Kim Ju-young, said she believed Hanni, there was no CCTV footage to back up the claim. Hanni’s testimony was part of a parliamentary committee on workplace conditions, though it’s not a formal investigation.
Min, a well-known K-pop producer, helped create NewJeans and worked with major K-pop stars like Girls’ Generation and EXO. The group is one of HYBE’s biggest successes, alongside BTS, which is currently on a break while some members complete their mandatory military service. BTS member J-Hope is expected to finish his service soon.
Hanni ended her testimony with hope for the future: “I am grateful for the attention people have shown to this issue. I hope my fellow idols and trainees won’t have to go through this.”
