ARTONE Company (CEO Kim Eunha), the producer of the show musical Dream High 2, which has been continuously surrounded by controversy, has once again been reported to the labor office—this time by its former employees—for failing to pay severance benefits.
According to Sports Kyunghyang, former employees of ARTONE Company recently filed a complaint with the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office against the company, citing reasons including unpaid wages and unpaid severance pay.
According to the report, former ARTONE Company employee A left the company in September of last year but has still not received approximately 6 million won in severance pay.
While working as an assistant choreography director, he also performed on stage as a cast member during overseas performances. However, CEO Kim Eunha did not settle those payments either, leaving about 4 million won in appearance fees still unpaid.
As a result, A recently filed a complaint with the Labor Office. A case officer has now been assigned, and he is expected to appear for questioning in the near future.
Another former employee, B, also separately reported the company to the Ministry of Employment and Labor after not receiving severance pay. Of the roughly 15 million won owed, 7 million won was recently paid, but no further payment of the remaining balance was made, leading B to decide to file a report. B also expressed frustration, saying that appearance fees for overseas performances had not been paid either.
The problem is that ARTONE Company’s unpaid-payment issues are not something that started yesterday. Since last year, the company has repeatedly come under criticism over unpaid appearance fees for actors.
Most notably, Choi Youngjae, who starred in Dream High 2, recently publicly called out the company on social media over unpaid appearance fees, causing another blow to ARTONE Company’s credibility.
Youngjae also began legal action against ARTONE Company in January. He claimed that although he performed in the production from April to July of last year, he did not receive his appearance fees after the performances ended.
With the issue of unpaid appearance fees still unresolved, news of a Season 3 production has also surfaced, leading some to raise suspicions that the company may be using new funds to cover previous payment obligations to actors. Furthermore, with the revelation that employees’ severance pay has also gone unpaid, concerns about the production company’s financial credibility are expected to intensify once again.
One employee commented, “Even when the unpaid appearance fee issue first arose, they said they would pay once they secured investment for Season 3. But after they received investment, they changed their story, saying they couldn’t use the investment money to pay appearance fees and that they could only pay after staging another production.”
That’s not all. Former employees also voiced complaints about CEO Kim Eunha’s verbal abuse and abuse of power.
They claim that while employed at the company, they were subjected to verbal abuse from Kim Eunha on numerous occasions, and that during performances they were also humiliated because Kim allegedly felt she was not being given proper VIP treatment and protocol.
Regarding these allegations, Sports Kyunghyang directly called CEO Kim Eunha, but she did not answer. She also has not responded to text messages requesting her position on the matter.
Despite these controversies, ARTONE announced the launch of Dream High Season 3, a production being developed in collaboration with the creative team of Universal Music Group.
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