On the afternoon of October 15, NewJeans member Hanni and ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young attended a hearing of the Labor and Environment Committee of the Korean National Assembly. They were asked about issues related to idol bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Previously, Hanni and 4 members of the group NewJeans held a livestream on September 11. She recounted that another group manager in HYBE Group asked the members of that group to ignore Hanni when they met.
Hanni reported this to CEO Kim Joo Young but it was not resolved, as the CEO said there was no evidence.
ADOR later said that the CCTV footage of this scene was deleted by HYBE's security staff, leaving only 8 seconds of Hanni greeting another artist.
Kim Joo Young asserted that she believed what Hanni said, but the CCTV could not be restored so there was no evidence. She emphasized that she did her best.
Hanni replied, "I don't think CEO Kim Joo Young did her best. She could have done more. She said she would protect us, but if she really wanted to protect us, she would have to fight for us.
However, she had no will to fight and no action, so I don't think she did her best."
The female idol also cited other cases to prove her claim that NewJeans was boycotted at HYBE.
"These things made me confirm that what I was feeling was not just a feeling. I know HYBE hates us," Hanni said.
The female idol emphasized: “If I say this to make things better in the future, maybe this will gradually be forgotten. Therefore, before talking about the future, I want the current situation to be resolved first.”
The Korean public had mixed reactions to the hearing. Some supported Hanni's bravery in standing up and questioning CEO Kim Joo Young about the deleted CCTV footage.
However, many people also believe that the Korean National Assembly's summoning of Hanni for this issue is unnecessary, while there are other social issues that deserve more attention.
Some viewers were unhappy that members of Congress seemed to side with Hanni NewJeans despite the lack of clear evidence in the case.
In addition, many people also paid attention to the fact that the Labor and Environment Committee of the National Assembly questioned ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young (who is also HYBE's HR Director) about the suspicion that HYBE covered up information about an employee who died from overwork in 2022.
CEO Kim Joo Young denied that HYBE intentionally avoided or covered up information, and said that the decision not to conduct an autopsy was agreed upon with the family of the former employee.
But the audience thinks that this is the hot issue that needs to be clarified, instead of Hanni not greeting other managers in the group.
