DSP, SME, others in trouble for illegally employing minors

[shakeyoboom.livejournal.com]

With more and more celebrities debuting at young ages, it has recently been revealed that any company employing a child under the age of 15 must now be issued a document authorizing the employment to make it legal.

According to the National Assembly’s Committee on Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting & Communications, “There is a Labor Standards Act that forces any company that employs a child younger than 13~15 in their girl group to be issued a document that authorizes the employment but some girl groups are currently promoting without such authorizations.”

According to GNP (Grand National Party) spokesperson Ahn Hyung Hwan, f(x)’s Sulli, KARA’s Kang Jiyoung, both born in 1994, and GP Basic’s Hannah, born in 1996, and Janey, born in 1998, all performed on stage without the proper authorizations.

The Labor Standards Act states, “Any one under the age of 15 cannot be employed as a worker unless certain standards are met as set by the president and an authorization document issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.”

A representative of the Ministry of Employment and Labor spoke with Newsen on the 10th and stated, “Any job that requires the employment and paying of a person under the age of 15 must be authorized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Should this be violated, they will be met with the appropriate penalties and/or imprisonment.”

According to the Ministry, after the law was enacted in 2007, only three authorizations were given in 2008, 14 in 2009, and only one as of July 2010.

But this applies to not only girl groups but child actors as well. Why is Ahn Hyung Hwan criticizing girl groups only? Ahn Hyung Hwan answered through Newsen and stated, “Despite the law being enacted in 2007, there are not a lot of people that know about it because of the lack of promotions. With sexually suggestive controversies surrounding girl groups these days, we are attempting to bring the issue to spotlight in order to raise the alarm.”

source ~ akp

Comments

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

small steps

[miuratenshi.livejournal.com]

I feel like shit just got real.

[captainmarvel.livejournal.com]

[sonicphotonic.livejournal.com]

oooooooops.

[kiki3291.livejournal.com]

They probably just don't get paid to avoid legal issues, of course.

[drownamydrown.livejournal.com]

lmao

[hardcorxsooshee.livejournal.com]

:O

[purinchun.livejournal.com]

Ohhhhhh snaaaap.
(http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z161/purinchun/Gifs/?action=view&current=2lsik2hjpg.gif)

[mayshy.livejournal.com]

omfg so stealing this gif, yoona is gorgeous!

[atarashiiyoake.livejournal.com]

mte.

[kiseops.livejournal.com]

awwww here it goes

[captainmarvel.livejournal.com]

[atticusmayhem.livejournal.com]

THIS.

[spandachi.livejournal.com]

LOLWAT

Sort of expected, tbh

[mycorrhizoid.livejournal.com]

Why are they only mentioning girls?
I mean, I love SHINee, and Taemin especially, but he was 14 when he debuted. So was Dongho of U-KISS, and Changjo of Teen Top and probably a few others I'm not familiar with.
And also, why is SM in trouble for Sulli and not for Krystal? Krystal's younger. Did they get paperwork for Krystal and then forget about Sulli or something?

[drownamydrown.livejournal.com]

So many good points raised here. Not to mention all of the work some idols did before their big debuts: Yoona and Sooyoung and their modeling, (plus Sooyoung's Route 0 activities at 12), Sulli's acting, Krystal's commercial work. And those are only the instances that I can think of off the top of my head. They were still working as company representatives despite not being widely known.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

IKR? It makes it so much more..real idk.

[xblackchristmas.livejournal.com]

GG.

[kiki3291.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't this mean more companies should be under fire too? From what I've read in the past, trainees get paid for being...trainees, basically. They are employed by the company, and many of them perform for other artists under the same company or appear in photoshoots.

Not saying that all companies have young trainees, but when you take to mind those that have trained for 6+ years...

[erbalurbal.livejournal.com]

They don't get paid. They get food expenses and their living expenses covered if they live in the dorms but their parents still support them financially.

[toomanysides.livejournal.com]

What about boy groups?

[decimatedreams.livejournal.com]

Why is Ahn Hyung Hwan criticizing girl groups only? Ahn Hyung Hwan answered through Newsen and stated, “With sexually suggestive controversies surrounding girl groups these days, we are attempting to bring the issue to spotlight in order to raise the alarm.”

...

SMDH

[blueskies14.livejournal.com]

All these companies had to do was get proper authorizations. That's all they had to do.

What is the problem!?

Re: SMDH

[toomanysides.livejournal.com]

“Any one under the age of 15 cannot be employed as a worker unless certain standards are met as set by the president"

Their working hours probably aren't anywhere near their standards.

[xlovemelody.livejournal.com]

& the only thought about this now? O_O
soo, what's gonna happen to them now?
& just targeting girls, so nothing about Teen Top?

[queenhinata.livejournal.com]

Get your shit together or else shit will follow you!
LOL so true~

[beauty0fparting.livejournal.com]

With sexually suggestive controversies surrounding girl groups these days, we are attempting to bring the issue to spotlight in order to raise the alarm.

I hope it's not what I think it is. and not only girl groups have minors!!!

[gabucha26.livejournal.com]

hmm I wonder if gp basic's company is gonna be added to the list

[gabucha26.livejournal.com]

wow at my comment without reading the article.

[shadowkeeper.livejournal.com]

Janey, born in 1998

I feel so old. She's like 10 years younger than me.

[taeminho-onkey.livejournal.com]

Bby it's okay. I feel sorta sad she's 1 year younger than me. ):. I always thought my idols would be older than me. Guess not anymore.

[taeminho-onkey.livejournal.com]

I knew something would happen as soon as GP Basic debuted. Poor bbys.<3

[takteng-kamote.livejournal.com]

THIS.

[kiki3291.livejournal.com]

It's not as simple as just signing some documents and giving their authorization. When I was 14 I was only allowed to work a certain amount of hours a week compared to when I was 18. More than what I did would be against the law. It probably applies for these idols as well, which would then affect the company since promotion time would probably be cut in half.

But this is Korea, so who knows.

[majidarou.livejournal.com]

IA. Here, even if you're legal but if you work as a part-timer there's a limit to the number of hours you can work per week, and that number of hours is even less when you're studying full-time in school.

I know quite a lot of companies aren't aware of that until someone (an auditor or some authority) raises the issue then they either start getting their shit together or find ways to bend the regulations somehow.

Now I really wonder how are these idols doing in school when their attendance rate is alarming as hell.

[mimoiikit143.livejournal.com]

Loooool~ does that mean BUH-BYE SULLi?!

[bluemaid86.livejournal.com]

probably not since according to the law she's no longer needs authorization (she turned 16 in march)

I suppose the company will still be fined tho for the time she needed authorization but didn't have it likewise for any other guilty companies...