SEOUL, Oct 3 — NewJeans Kpop girl group member, Hanni has been selected as a reference witness by the South Korean National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee in its workplace harassment inquiry.
She is one of 35 witnesses selected for the upcoming national audit at a general meeting, reported The Korea Times.
Opposition Democratic Party of Korea member and chairman of the committee An Ho-young, requested that Hanni appear for the October 25 audit, which will focus on the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Economic, Social and Labor Council.
ADOR’s new CEO and HYBE human resources chief Kim Joo-young has also been selected as a witness due to alleged inadequate responses to harassment complaints.
Hanni had previously spoken out about the harassment during a YouTube livestream on September 11, saying that she has been facing unfair treatment by HYBE and its employees since the feud between HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk and former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin began,
She said that while waiting in a makeup room, she greeted members of another group, only to have their manager tell them in front of her to ignore her.
“I still don’t understand why I had to go through that,” she said.
In reaction to the incident, fans of NewJeans lodged complaints with the Ministry of Employment and Labor as well as the civil rights organisation Workplace Gapjil 119.
They highlighted that the situation could be classified as harassment that exceeds acceptable workplace limits.
Hanni is not obligated to testify as a reference witness as according to the National Assembly Act on Testimony and Appraisal, a witness or reference witness is not required to attend if they submit a valid reason for their absence.
Unlike official witnesses, who may face penalties or orders to appear if their absence is deemed unjustified, reference witnesses face no such consequences.