NewJeans’ Hanni to testify about workplace harassment before South Korean parliament

NewJeans’ Hanni announced her decision to testify before the South Korean National Assembly’s Environment and Labour Committee over a workplace harassment investigation slated for Tuesday, Oct. 15.  

The chairman of the Environment and Labour Committee had previously invited Hanni to serve as a reference witness for an inquiry aimed at addressing workplace harassment and bullying within the entertainment industry. 

The 20-year-old K-pop star shared her decision last Wednesday, Oct. 9, via their group’s fan communication app, “Phoning.” 

“I will attend the audit alone. I’m doing this for myself, the NewJeans members, and our fans,” the statement said.  

Hanni also added that their company, ADOR, and managers are unaware of her decisions yet.  

This decision follows their YouTube livestream on September 11, where the five members of NewJeans—Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein— openly discussed their working conditions and expressed their support and reinstatement of their former CEO, Min Hee-jin, who was dismissed in August. 

During the 30-minute livestream, Hanni claimed that a manager from another K-pop group under a different HYBE subsidiary instructed the group to "ignore her," which led Hanni to feel ostracized within the K-pop industry. 

“To say that in front of me, knowing full well that I can hear it – why do I have to go through something like that? I don’t understand. I’m speechless,” she said. 

A dispute surfaced in April between HYBE and Min Hee-jin after the company filed a complaint against the former ADOR CEO, alleging that she had breached trust in business dealings.  

HYBE claimed to have evidence showing that Min attempted to orchestrate a takeover of management rights for the subsidiary and break away from the holding company. In response, Min denied these allegations during a controversial press conference, where she also made statements criticizing multiple HYBE groups.