HYBE Insider Reveals Shocking Truth Behind Employee’s Overwork-Related Death Uncovered in Audit
During HYBE’s October 15, 2024 audit, ADOR’s CEO Kim Ju-young was questioned about a 2022 incident, now labeled as HYBE’s overwork-related death. The audit revealed that HYBE may have attempted to downplay the incident. Kim Ju-young stated, “In September 2022, an employee went to the break room to rest, but unfortunately, they passed out. We took them to the hospital, where they passed away a few days later due to a personal illness.”
On November 8, 2024 (KST), Bizhankook published an interview with a HYBE insider, a long-time employee whose label affiliation was withheld for privacy. The Q&A interview detailed HYBE’s work environment at the time, offering more insight into the circumstances surrounding the overwork-related death.
Q: During the National Assembly audit on October 15, HYBE was accused of covering up an overwork-related death. It was alleged that in 2022, amid the company’s aggressive subsidiary expansion, an employee died from overworking, but HYBE attributed it to a pre-existing illness and didn’t file a worker’s compensation claim. Are you aware of this incident?
A: Yes, there were rumors. I didn’t know the employee personally, but I recall seeing a company-wide notice about their passing, which was unusual. People talked, saying it was due to overworking and that it happened in the break room. There was an article, too, which was later removed. Hearing the rumors, I thought, “That’s plausible.”
Q: Why did you think it was possible?
A: I was exhausted myself. During COVID-19, while working at BIGHIT MUSIC, my teammates and I would joke that we’d prefer catching COVID to keep working as we were. The workload was simply too much.
Q: How intense was the workload?
A: Even before that incident, burnout was widespread. We’d begin production late at night, working through dawn. Once we completed a task around 5-6 AM, instead of going home, we’d be asked to stay on standby for edits, leading to several consecutive all-nighters. It was extremely inefficient.
Q. What was the regulation on working hours?
A. At the time, the 52-hour workweek hadn’t been introduced, so each label set its own guidelines. Some paid for overtime; others didn’t.
Q. Don’t production schedules align with album releases?
A. Yes, but delays often came from management approvals. Deadlines were frequently missed, with approvals getting pushed back for no clear reasons. Sometimes, we’d end up returning to the initial version after multiple edits. This inefficiency was exhausting, I lost 10 kg in my first month.
Q. How is working at HYBE now?
A. The system has changed somewhat. I’m not sure if Bang Si Hyuk knew about the previous issues, but there’s now a clear difference between labels he directly oversees and those he doesn’t.
In response to inquiries about the points brought up in the interview, HYBE stated that it is “fully complying with current labor laws” and has introduced unlimited paid leave and flexible hours to support a self-regulated work environment for employees.
Source: KoreaBoo
