By Kim Da-ye
Unfair treatment of celebrities by their management agencies was brought into the light again when the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) announced Monday that more than 60 percent of female teenage stars surveyed were forced to reveal body parts including breasts, hips and legs.
This time, the controversy highlights under-aged celebrities, raising the question whether they should be given a contract different from those for adults that would protect them from too much exposure and ensure appropriate work hours as well as their rights to schooling.
A Fair Trade Commission official told The Korea Times Thursday that the government agency does not have any detailed plans yet because the report was released only three days ago, but is considering how it will respond. “We are now trying to figure out how many teenage celebrities are out there. We do not have any specific plans but are examining the regulations we can enforce for under-aged entertainers,” said the official.
In July 2009, the watchdog, which investigates unfair business practices, introduced a standard form of document to be used when entertainers sign an“exclusive contract” with their agencies, and has imposed corrective measures on the businesses that did not follow it.
According to the new restrictions, the terms of a contract should not exceed seven years; celebrities do not need to report their locations to their agencies; and they do not need to pay a penalty twice as large as the down payment upon the breaking of the contract.
Around the time of its introduction, “slave contracts” which put celebrities and would-be stars in a disadvantageous position came under the limelight. Actress Jang Ja-yeon committed suicide in March 2009 when she was allegedly forced to provide sexual favors by her former agent.
In July 2009, pop group TVXQ asked the court to free them from their exclusive contract with SM Entertainment which required them to stay with the agency for 13 years and allegedly prohibited their freedom as artists. Later in August, Kevin of idol group U-Kiss won a lawsuit against his former agency that tried to shackle him with a 10-year contract.
In June this year, the FTC investigated 20 management firms that did not “self-correct” their contracts and asked many to amend their contracts with celebrities. For instance, De Chocolate E&TF ― where Koh Hyun-jung and Kang Ho-dong are clients _ asserted in the contracts that celebrities cannot quit before the contract expires and have to participate in certain events without pay when they are asked to do so by the agency.
While Korea lacks special outlines on contracts for underage celebrities, MOGEF says some developed countries have laws to protect the rights of young stars. The regulations in the U.K. allow those under the age of 13 to stay at venues only until 10 p.m. and those under 14 until 10:30 p.m. The maximum number of hours they are permitted to participate in a rehearsal is three and a half hours a day.
In Korea, labor rights of minors are protected by the constitution and related laws limit their work hours to seven hours a day and 40 hours a week. They are also restricted from working between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and during holidays. But, because celebrities are categorized as special types of laborers, underage entertainers do not enjoy the same rights.
The MOGEF statistics showed that 36 percent of the 103 under-aged celebrity respondents answered they worked overtime hours, and about 16 out of 39 respondents under 18 said they work night shifts as well as on weekends. Furthermore, 48 percent of the 85 celebrities in elementary, middle and high school said they miss half of their classes a week and 20 percent do not have time to study at all.
Management companies, however, aren’t happy that the government is on the celebrities’ side, ignoring the reality of the entertainment businesses. “We have asked the FTC to modify the details of the current standard form for exclusive contracts. We feel that the government is not seeing the problems from the perspective of the businesses.”
“We do believe that we should protect the rights of under-aged celebrities. But rather than dealing with celebrity-related issues immediately to appeal to the public, the government should take time to look at the problems with a comprehensive and long-term perspective,” said a representative from the Korea Entertainment Producers Association.
