Korean Union Exposes Lawless Variety Production: Staff Choke Writers, Wages Unpaid

The variety show production sites have become lawless zones. The reality is that they cannot get proper protection from the law.”

The Media Labor and Human Rights Center and the Broadcasters Union of Korea held a press conference at the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office on September 11 to make this complaint. According to the two organizations’ accusations, power harassment and unpaid wages are rampant in South Korea’s variety production industry, which is in chaos.

The Human Rights Center and other organizations pointed to an incident that took place on June 30 in Busan, in the southern part of the country. On that day, an art variety show was being filmed. The cause of the disturbance was the behavior of an executive staff member A, who was in charge of the program.

He was not pleased with the composition of one of the broadcasters, and yelled at him, “Pull yourself together! and reprimanded him severely. When another writer tried to calm him down, A became furious and allegedly assaulted him by choking him. This was witnessed by extras and many other staff members.

About 80 people in 9 programs

The trouble did not end on the set. Six broadcasters protested the power harassment and demanded strict measures from the production company to which A belonged. However, …….

On July 9, the protesting broadcasters were all fired without being given a satisfactory reason. The writers consulted the Human Rights Center. The writers consulted with the Human Rights Center, and this led to the current accusations.

According to the Human Rights Center, such problems occur frequently at many variety production sites in Korea.

At a press conference held on September 11, the shocking reality of the situation was revealed. According to the Human Rights Center, there were not only cases of power harassment, but also nonpayment of wages. According to the Human Rights Center, the number of unpaid wages for this year alone totaled approximately 80 staff members in nine programs. The total amount of unpaid wages amounted to 600 million won (approximately 63 million yen).

The working environment is quite poor. The staff members of the subcontractors are forced to work long, irregular hours day and night, according to the program’s wishes. It is not uncommon for them to be abruptly dismissed when they complain or protest, as is the case with the aforementioned broadcasters,” said another reporter.

The Korean TV industry is in turmoil. The Human Rights Center says it will submit a petition to the Labor Agency to improve the environment.