Five K-pop associations are opposing a clause in a newly approved Act on the working hours for underaged idols.
In this April, the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism passed the “Lee Seung Gi Crisis Prevention Act”, an amendment to the Cultural Art Industry Development Act. The Act includes a clause about the protection of underaged idols that mandates a reduction of 5 hours of work compared to the previous set hours for every age group. More importantly, the Ministry prohibits interfering behaviors in the rights to education and their human rights.
The new bill is an apparent effort from the Korean government in protecting adolescent idols amid the various debuts of younger idols into the industry. However, some bodies in the industry are expressing their opposition to a clause in the Act. They believe it is hindering the development of the popular cultural industry. The joint statement of 5 associations elaborates that the said clause will restrict an idol group’s activities to which an adolescent member belongs and “weaken the competitiveness” of the popular culture industry.
The associations affirm they always oblige to the regulations issued by the Ministry. However, they do believe the amendment is “unnecessary”. Specifically, The Korea Entertainment Producer’s Association, Korea Entertainment Management Association, Recording Industry Association of Korea, Record Label Industry Association of Korea, and Korea Music Content Association recently released a joint statement that urged the deletion of the clause that sets a new working hour standard. They also called for an open discussion about other clauses in the Act. The rest of the amendment on the protection of underaged idols includes excessive control of one’s appearance and physical and verbal abuse. Harassment and attack on celebrities are wholly prohibited.
Source: billboardvn
