A lawmaker from the governing party pledged Thursday to propose a bill that bans the mistreatment of underage entertainers, including night shooting and forced excessive body exposure.
“Currently, entertainers cannot be protected by the Labor Law because they are not classified as workers,” Na Kyung-won from the Grand National Party (GNP), said. “In particular, there aren’t sufficient measures to protect teenage celebrities from being deprived of their human rights.”
The draft bill that she gave to reporters states that, in principle, underage entertainers would be prohibited from working late at night and it would limit the number of hours they work per week.
In Korea, the law limits the work hours for minors 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 on holidays.
Teenage entertainers are not protected by the law as they are categorized as “special” employees.
The GNP lawmaker plans to submit the bill to the National Assembly early next month.
A 2010 survey of teenage celebrities by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) revealed that 36 percent of the 103 under-aged entertainers who responded answered they worked overtime.
In the poll, 48 percent of the 85 entertainers 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.
MOGEF claims that most developed countries have laws to protect the rights of young stars.
The regulations in Britain 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.
Similarly, the draft bill that the judge-turned lawmaker will propose also stipulates young stars’ right to health, schooling and other basic rights.
The draft also calls for banning teenagers from being choreographed into making excessive and sexual expressions on stage and prohibiting them from appearing in advertisements that promote harmful materials.
The bill is expected to face a backlash from the entertainment industry as management agencies are critical of the drastic changes and claim that the bill ignores the reality of the business.
청소년 연예인 심야 활동 금지
한나라당 나경원 의원은 20일 미성년자 연예인들의 야간 촬영과 지나친 노출 등 불합리한 처우를 근절하기 위한 법안을 발의하겠다 밝혔다.
나경원 의원은 “현재 연예인은 근로자로 분류되지 않고, 특히 청소년 연예인에 대한 보호규정이 미흡해 인권의 사각지대가 발생하고 있다”며 미성년자 연예인에 대한 부당한 처우를 근절하기 위해 `연예산업진흥 등에 관한 법률안'(가칭)을 내달 초 발의할 예정이라고 밝혔다.
근로기준법은 18세 미만 청소년의 근로시간을 하루 7시간, 일주일에 40시간 이내로 정하고 있고 밤 10시부터 새벽 6시까지 야간근로를 할 수 없게 강제하고 있지만 연예인은 특수형태 근로자로 분류되기 때문에 이 법이 적용되지 않고 있는 실정이다.
따라서 나경원 의원은 청소년 연예인들을 보호하기 위해 심야 근로를 원칙적으로 금지하고 주당 근로시간을 제한하며 동시에 이들의 건강권, 학습권, 인격권 보장등에 관에 법률에 명시할 계획이다.
![[INTERVIEW] North Korean-born chef delights Southerners' taste buds, breaks down cultural barriers](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3a6dc51899d548b990f489b784a0ecd3.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[ANALYSIS] Yoon-Kishida meeting raises expectations of 3-way summit with China](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/f435e5a0dc774045ba9e051c7ea72913.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
