2024-10-07 NewJeans Parents Interview with Ilgan Sports

Korean Original: https://m.entertain.naver.com/article/241/0003384526

English Translation (@juantokki): x.com/juantokki/status/1843136958937362484

[Exclusive] NewJeans' Mothers Raise Concerns Over HYBE's CCTV Concealment Allegations: "The Video of a Manager Saying 'Ignore Hanni' Has Disappeared"

Reporter Hyunghwa Jeon

"Strangely, only the CCTV footage of Hanni greeting someone remains, while the problematic 'ignore' video she mentioned has been deleted."

As NewJeans member Hanni has been selected as a witness for the National Assembly's audit regarding "idol bullying and workplace harassment issues," the mothers of the NewJeans members expressed their suspicions and deep concerns about HYBE’s inadequate investigation, including allegations of CCTV concealment.

On the 6th, multiple mothers of NewJeans members revealed in an interview with Ilgan Sports that Kim Joo-young, CEO of Ador, stated that the CCTV footage related to Hanni's bullying had disappeared. They criticized, "How can it be that only the footage of Hanni greeting a member from another group remains, while the video containing the problematic 'ignore' was deleted?"

Previously, on September 11, during an emergency live broadcast of NewJeans, Hanni revealed that while waiting in the hallway of the HYBE building, she greeted another artist, but when she encountered that artist again, her manager told the other members, "Ignore her," which shocked fans. In relation to this, the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee selected Kim Joo-young, the CEO of Ador and HYBE's Chief Human Resources Officer, as a witness for the audit, and Hanni as a reference.

One mother of a NewJeans member explained, "Initially, Hanni's mother first brought up this issue with the other mothers around the end of May. She was very upset, saying she heard such things from her child and worried about how such things could happen in the future."

"In May and June, the issues between HYBE and former CEO Min Hee-jin were escalating. At that time, the Ador board was entirely changed. Especially since it was a problem with another label, it was practically impossible for former CEO Min to resolve it, being isolated on the board. However, protests were being made vigorously. Therefore, we lodged complaints with Kim Joo-young, the new chair of the Ador board and the overall head of HR at HYBE, requesting measures to prevent a recurrence. However, time just dragged on, and in the end, we received a response saying that only the CCTV footage of the main scene had been deleted, claiming there was no evidence."

Another mother of a NewJeans member said, "It has already been four months since the incident. We raised the issue in June, but there seems to be no signs of resolution, and only recently did they say they would check the CCTV. Initially, it was suspicious that they said they couldn't capture audio in the CCTV footage, so it seemed strange that they would check it." She continued, "I thought it would be better just to meet with Hanni and directly interview the parties involved, wondering why they were dragging out the situation. But I said they could check the CCTV, and in the end, they told me there was no footage."

This mother noted, "There were many strange things. We raised this issue immediately after the incident. We have records of our communication via email. Yet, we received an absurd response saying that CCTV footage is deleted after 30 days. When we asked them to restore it, they replied that recovering deleted footage is technically difficult."

She added, "However, it's absurd that not all footage from the date of the incident was missing. They only showed us about eight seconds of footage of Hanni greeting other artist members and claimed that all footage from other time slots was deleted. It raises the question of why they would leave only the non-problematic scenes. It feels disrespectful and unpleasant."

Regarding this situation, another mother of a NewJeans member expressed frustration, saying, "When I asked why that particular scene was deleted, they said it was deleted by someone who had resigned, and thus they didn't know the reason. The security team made excuses saying it was the fault of a superior who gave them the task and confirmation, while the superior blamed the resigned employee, which was chaotic."

A NewJeans member's mother continued, "On the 23rd of last month, CEO Kim Joo-young wanted to meet with the NewJeans members alone, but I felt too uneasy to send only the kids, so the parents went along as well. There, we raised this issue once again."

"When CEO Kim Joo-young said, 'The CCTV footage doesn't have sound, so it might be difficult for the security team to identify it,' I replied, 'Even without sound, the atmosphere, gestures, and situations can convey a lot, can't they?' Then I suggested that we should have been allowed to view all the footage from that date, but they said they had already reviewed a month's worth of footage. I found that answer ridiculous and retorted, 'If you had been given a specific date, why not just look for that date and not others?' I kept thinking the responses were strange."

So, when I asked what requests had been made to the Ador board regarding this issue, they replied that it could have been done over the phone, making it difficult to provide documentation. I said, "Being a large corporation, don’t you keep a record of work requests? There must be something," and after the meeting on September 25, they sent the materials via email. I was appalled by the content."

A mother of a NewJeans member stated, "They showed us Slack messages with instructions, but the request process seemed odd. If this is an issue between subordinate labels, shouldn't HYBE maintain neutrality in the investigation? Moreover, isn't it right for the department responsible for workplace harassment to handle it? Since it's a large corporation. Yet, they were looking for relevant materials from Belift Lab."

She continued, "Requests to find this CCTV footage should have been made directly by Ador to the security team, or through the workplace harassment department at HYBE. Why would the Ador board request Belift Lab to look for it? My suspicions have only increased." Furthermore, she explained, "In the Slack communication between Belift Lab and the security team, there was a message where a security officer said, 'I found the scene of them greeting,' and Belift Lab responded, 'That's a relief.' I don't understand the intention behind showing that message."

The member's mother lamented, "This is essentially like asking the perpetrator to find the evidence footage. In the end, they claimed the scene containing the problematic 'ignore' had been deleted, and when I suggested doing a forensic recovery, they said it was impossible due to technical issues, leaving me wondering how I could possibly trust that."

The member's mother also recounted, "During the meeting on the 23rd, Hanni explained to CEO Kim Joo-young, 'Since you said only the victims can confirm, on the day I visited the security team to check the CCTV, the security staff couldn't make eye contact with me and were fidgeting with their hands.' In response, CEO Kim Joo-young said something like, 'I'm looking at you directly,' which left Hanni feeling very surprised."

She continued, "Previously, CEO Kim Joo-young also told Hanni, 'If this kind of incident occurs, you should have spoken up quickly; the video was already deleted a month later.' However, Hanni clearly spoke up early, and we raised the issue immediately. Yet, receiving such a response might have made Hanni think, 'Does that mean I did something wrong?' So, the mothers protested, 'How would Hanni know there were such rules? We raised the issue immediately after the incident, well before a month passed.'"

"During the meeting on the 23rd, CEO Kim Joo-young suddenly shed tears while speaking in front of the NewJeans members. It was very surprising. For the members, who lack much social experience, especially for the representative to show such emotional behavior in a meeting where various issues were being discussed, it could lead the kids to feel guilty. Moreover, we were discussing the harm we had suffered. In fact, during that meeting, one member cried, saying, 'Why are you making us the bad guys?' Therefore, the mothers expressed, 'You are at the age to be in school; we are sorry for making you go through such things as parents.'"

Another mother of a NewJeans member expressed her astonishment, saying, “During the meeting, I raised the issue of videos from the NewJeans members' trainee days being leaked to online media without permission. Two days later, I received a response from CEO Kim Joo-young stating that the fans of NewJeans had reported that media outlet and Source Music to the police, and that we might consider waiting for the results.”

“In the explanation email sent by CEO Kim Joo-young to us, it was stated that while the NewJeans members could file a civil lawsuit against the media for invasion of portrait rights, we should consider the possibility that such legal actions against media outlets could be viewed negatively, and there were concerns that if we couldn't secure objective evidence about the leak, the chances of winning would be low. It also mentioned that ADOR had sent an official letter to Source Music and the media in August, but there had been no response.”

“There are no criminal penalties for invasion of portrait rights, and even if we sued Source Music, there is a possibility that they could turn it against us if we receive a no-bill disposition. It was stated that since the fans reported the media and Source Music, we could consider waiting for the results. I don’t understand why they are saying that there are no criminal penalties but then suggesting we wait for the results since the fans reported it. Moreover, despite considering all this, they said that if we wanted to proceed with the lawsuit, ADOR would provide the necessary resources for the NewJeans members to do so. I don’t know what kind of nonsensical contradiction that is.”

Finally, the mothers of NewJeans members expressed, “These issues usually occur in blind spots that others are not aware of, so I worry that they will ultimately be concealed as time passes. We are genuinely concerned about our children’s lives at HYBE because of these fears and doubts.”

They continued, “We have protested and discussed various issues with the newly changed management of ADOR, but nothing has been resolved over the past few months, and we are now almost in a state of giving up and resignation, which makes us more worried about the future. So, the only thing we can hope for now is to have faith that the truth will prevail. Since lies cannot last forever, we believe that the truth will eventually be revealed, even if not immediately.”

Meanwhile, in response to the suspicions raised by the NewJeans mothers regarding the CCTV, a HYBE representative stated, “We are thoroughly verifying the facts regarding this matter.”