HYBE faces allegations of covering up employee’s death due to overwork

Suspicions have been raised during a National Assembly audit that HYBE covered up the death of an employee due to overwork. On the 15th, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee (referred to as the Environment Committee) conducted a hearing related to workplace harassment allegations brought by NewJeans member Hanni. ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young and Hanni appeared as a witness and a reference, respectively, to respond to related inquiries from lawmakers.

Progressive Party member Jeong Hye Kyung, a member of the Environment Committee, asked CEO Kim Joo Young, “Is it true that a HYBE employee collapsed while working in the office in February 2022, was taken to a hospital, and later passed away?”

CEO Kim responded, “To my knowledge, the incident occurred in September 2022. Unfortunately, the individual collapsed, was found, and taken to a hospital but passed away a few days later due to a personal health condition.”

Jeong Hye Kyung countered, “The Environment Committee sees this as a case of death from overwork. At that time, HYBE’s subsidiary expansions led to employees managing multiple idol groups simultaneously, including overseas schedules, resulting in excessive working hours.”

She continued, “There was no industrial accident claim filed with the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service. It appears to be a case of overwork, and I question whether there was an attempt to cover this up.”

Kim Joo Young denied the allegations, stating, “There was no cover-up,” and explained that the decision not to conduct an autopsy was made by the deceased’s family.

In response, Jeong Hye Kyung remarked, “That’s how cover-ups happen, through agreements with the bereaved family. Please verify the details of the incident and provide us with an accurate report.”

Following the hearing, an individual claiming to be a former colleague of the deceased HYBE employee posted online, stating, “It was not a personal illness. He was a young employee, and at the time, many colleagues attended his memorial and funeral. The bereaved family even wrote a message of gratitude on the company’s internal forum. It’s absurd to claim no industrial accident claim was filed. How could the deceased do that?”

Another individual, who identified themselves as working in the entertainment industry, criticized on platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), saying, “Overnight work is very common in the entertainment industry. In reality, deaths from overwork are not that rare. It’s just that nobody talks about it, and it’s kept quiet.”

The public reaction has been critical, with comments like, “Am I watching a National Assembly audit or a Netflix horror show?” and “It’s both frightening and a comedy that such a company was selected for promoting horizontal communication.”

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