K-drama female staff - 20-hour working days for $177 a month

Staff involved in production. Courtesy of the Federation of Korea Movie Workers' Union

By Dong Sun-hwa

Hallyu is often represented by celebrities who make a fortune from the films or dramas in which they star.

But what about staff or crew who work behind the scenes, especially women?

"We face an abusive and tough life," a former drama staff told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity. She worked as a drama PD trainee and her tasks included preparing late-night meals, making reservations and looking after receipts.

She said she and others were on the receiving end of sexual harassment and swearing in the name of culture and custom.

"Some male crews frequently made lewd jokes to female staff and talked to them in a disrespectful way," she said. "Some made uncalled-for advances, touching us."

She said her friend, also a trainee, had a worse experience.

The former drama staff revealed the hardships she had to endure while working. Korea Times graphic by Bae So-young

"My friend was abandoned at the site of filming," she said. "But nobody told her what to do ― instead, they cursed her, and threatened her physically for not doing her job well."

Her friend told the production firm about the incident, but was only told, "This is how this industry works ― if you can't endure it, give up. We have plenty of others to replace you."

The friend said she could not do this because once she left, there would be no second chance to work in the industry.

The former staff also disclosed that during the production, she worked 20 hours a day, starting at 7:30 a.m. and sometimes not finishing until 3:40 a.m.

"Sleeping on the site was common," she added. "Then, I would get 200,000 won ($177) a month."

In contrast, actor Lee Byung-hun is reportedly being paid 150 million won ($134,000) for each of the 24 episodes of the new tvN series, "Mr. Sunshine."

She also mentioned the "vicious cycle" of K-drama productions too.

"To reduce costs, we reduce shooting time by squeezing as much as possible within a given time," she said. "That means we work constantly, without sleep."

An associate producer for entertainment programs at a broadcasting station agreed, saying, "We know we need to hire more people, but we won't."

He unveiled that the problem was more serious because Korea was neither a leader of season programs nor pre-productions.

"Two jobs in our industry are well paid ― celebrity actors and main producers," he said.

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