K-pop star Hanni, a member of the group NewJeans, made an emotional appeal on Tuesday for young artists to be treated better in the multi-billion dollar industry, as she relayed her experience of workplace bullying during a parliamentary hearing.
For years the K-pop industry has been dogged by complaints of high pressure and bullying, sparking calls for companies to protect their artists better.
“I hope trainees don’t suffer these incidents and that’s why I decided to appear,” the 20-year-old Vietnamese Australian singer said during the televised parliamentary audit.
Her testimony in South Korea’s parliament is a rare appearance by a major K-pop star to address bullying in the industry.
“I know it’s not going to solve all the problems in the world, but if we just respect each other, at least there will be no problems with bullying and harassment in the workplace,” Hanni said, choking back tears at times.
The group itself has been caught in the middle of a clash between executives of its parent powerhouse label HYBE and the former CEO of its subsidiary Ador, which manages NewJeans.
The singer, whose full name is Hanni Pham, recounted to parliament’s labour committee how she had heard a manager telling staff to ignore and pretend not to see the group when she bumped into them in a corridor.
