BY JONATHAN HICAP
A former member of a K-pop girl group has filed a complaint for sexual harassment against the CEO of her agency.
Ga-eun, 19, former member of idol group Madein, accused CEO Lee Yong-hak of 143 Entertainment of sexual harassment. She is also seeking a formal apology and the termination of her exclusive contract with the agency.
K-pop girl group Madein (Instagram)
Former Madein member Ga-eun (X)
On April 29, Ga-eun’s side, including her mother, held a press conference about the sexual harassment, which reportedly happened in October last year.
During the press conference, a handwritten memorandum allegedly made by Lee Yong-hak was released.
The memorandum stated, "I sincerely apologize for the sexual harassment. In future contractual relationships with 143 Entertainment, I will step down from the position of legal representative director and take responsibility to ensure that I am not disadvantaged. I will also give Ga-eun the right of first choice in contract extensions and other contractual relationships,” Korean media reported.
143 Entertainment issued a statement, saying, "It is also deeply regrettable that Ga-eun's side demanded a large sum of consolation money based on one-sided claims related to an incident that was already reported last year, and when this was refused, they filed a criminal complaint about six months after the incident occurred."
The controversy was first reported by a current affairs program of Korean TV channel JTBC in November last year. 143 Entertainment denied the allegations.
Also last November, 143 Entertainment announced the departure of Ga-eun from Madein and denied the sexual harassment allegations.
Madein, formerly Limelight, debuted in September last year. The group’s current members are Mashiro, MiU, Suhye, Yeseo, Serina, and Nagomi.
