Hey Jini labor exploitation controversy spills over onto broadcaster Lee Ji-hye

Netizens flood Lee's YouTube channel with criticism over Hey Jini's appearance in a home tour video, calling the luxury house a product of worker exploitation

As popular kids' content creator Hey Jini (real name Kang Hye-jin), who has about 4.13 million subscribers, faces allegations of labor exploitation, the controversy has begun to touch broadcaster and former girl group member Lee Ji-hye as well.

Netizens have been flooding the comments section of a video featuring Hey Jini on Lee's YouTube channel, "Mipjianheun Gwanjong Eonni," with criticism such as "Must be nice living in a fancy place built on exploited labor," industry sources said Thursday.

The video was released last month under the title "Hey Jini, a 5-million-subscriber YouTuber! Full tour of a 185-square-meter luxury home." It showed Lee and Moon visiting Kang and Kang's husband at their home, where the two couples talked about parenting and career concerns.

When the video first went up, fans responded warmly — "I can't believe Hey Jini is on Gwanjong Eonni!" and "I love seeing my two favorites in the same frame" — but the mood shifted sharply after a former employee of Hey Jini's agency, Kidsworks, came forward with accounts of what amounted to labor exploitation and deeply poor working conditions.

The comments section has since been flooded with criticism: "You made employees work 16 hours a day for an annual salary of just 20 million won ($15,000) and saved up to buy a nice house — impressive," "Must be nice living somewhere fancy off the back of exploited workers," and "Look at the house bought with money earned through labor exploitation."

Comments on the video have since been temporarily disabled.

The controversy erupted after a post by a person identified only as A, a friend of Hey Jini who also worked as an employee, went viral online. A claimed to have worked up to 16 hours a day for an annual salary of 20 million won, including on weekends and holidays, and said the workload led to diagnoses of panic disorder and depression. A also alleged that the agency obstructed an application for industrial accident compensation.

Kidsworks issued an official statement denying the allegation that it had blocked the industrial accident claim. "We paid a salary with no issues in the wage structure at the time of hiring nine years ago, and subsequently raised the annual salary by 25 percent," the agency said. "A separate bonus was also paid during the leave of absence."

The controversy has not died down, however, after a second former employee, identified as B, came forward with additional claims — that compensatory days off for weekend and holiday work were not properly guaranteed, that unpaid overtime was routine under an all-inclusive wage arrangement, and that employees who used taxis after late-night shifts were made to feel guilty about it. B also alleged that staff who expressed an intention to resign were subjected to pressure and anxiety.

Hey Jini was born in 1989 and graduated from Dongduk Women's University's department of broadcasting and entertainment, pioneering the kids' content creator space in 2014 and building a large following since.

jshan@heraldcorp.com