SEOUL, Feb 26 — South Korea’s Employment and Labour Ministry has declared workplace bullying claims made by K-pop group NewJeans’ manager known only as ‘A’ to be “unfounded” after an investigation.
A had reported ADOR CEO Kim Joo-young for workplace bullying after being submitted to an audit by ADOR for what they viewed as an act of misconduct in approaching advertisers without permission from ADOR.
NewJeans and ADOR are currently disputing the terms of the group’s contract, with the former claiming that according to the contract, ADOR had breached the terms thus making it null and void.
ADOR however states that NewJeans is still contracted to them.
The Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office under the ministry said that it could not confirm workplace bullying solely on the complainant’s submitted documents.
Previously, A had claimed to be lured by ADOR into a discussion that then turned into illegal detention for around three hours, and demanding the manager hand over a personal mobile phone.
ADOR claimed there were no coercive acts involved in its interactions with A, and the Ministry stated that its investigation supported ADOR’s claims.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor’s investigation results effectively support ADOR’s claim that ‘there were no coercive acts.’
An investigation into bullying concerning NewJeans’ member Hanni was also dismissed as under the Labour Standards Act, Hanni is not considered to be an employee but is instead in a contract with ADOR as equal contracting parties.
Hanni had earlier testified on October 25 at South Korea’s National Assembly audit on the topic of workplace bullying.
