A brand new invoice in South Korea prevents Okay-pop stars below the age of 15 from working greater than 35 hours every week and prohibits 'over-emphasis' on their appears

• On April 20, a brand new invoice was accepted by the South Korean Ministry of Tradition, Sports activities, and Tourism.
• The brand new “Lee Seung-gi State of affairs Prevention Act” limits the working hours of underage Okay-pop idols.
• The invoice additionally prohibits ‘health-threatening’ acts that place an ‘over-emphasis’ on their appears.

On Thursday, a invoice to guard underage Okay-pop idols from exploitation was handed in South Korea. 

The Tradition, Sports activities, and Tourism Committee of the Nationwide Meeting handed the “Widespread Tradition and Arts Business Growth Act” throughout a plenary session, per South Korean outlet Yonhap.

Also referred to as the “Lee Seung-gi Disaster Prevention Act,” the newly handed legislation goals to stop celebrities from struggling damages ensuing from exploitative contracts by reinforcing monetary transparency. 

The act is known as after singer Lee, who was below a “slave contract” the place he was by no means paid for his music for over 18 years of his profession, per Okay-pop information outlet Koreaboo.

The modification additionally bolstered necessities aimed toward defending the rights and pursuits of underage employees within the Korean leisure business by decreasing the variety of working hours, per Yonhap citing the committee.

Beforehand, entertainers below the age of 15 may work as much as 35 hours every week, whereas these older than 15 have been allowed 40 hours every week.

Below the brand new modification, entertainers below the age of 12 are allowed as much as 25 hours every week, as much as 6 hours a day. These aged 12 to fifteen are allowed 30 hours every week, whereas these above the age of 15 can work 35 hours every week, each age teams are restricted to 7 hours a day. As well as, the act prohibits any infringement of underage entertainers’ rights to training by forcing them to be absent from or drop out of faculty, per Yonhap.

In the meantime, within the US, youngsters in California usually are not permitted to work greater than 5 consecutive days in leisure, or allied industries, and are solely excused for as much as 5 absences per faculty yr, in response to the US Division of Labor.

However many productions usually handle to seek out methods to bypass these labor legal guidelines, resembling by hiring on-set lecturers to interchange typical in-school training, NPR.

The South Korean modification additionally forbids any acts which will threaten the well being and security of minors, which incorporates imposing an over-emphasis on bodily look upon the kids. Assault, abusive language, and sexual harassment are among the many different prohibitions listed within the act. Popular culture and humanities companies are actually mandated to designate an individual in control of youth safety who will assist to ensure the human rights of younger entertainers, per Yonhap. 

“This modification will abolish the business’s absurd practices behind the event of Okay-content, and supply an atmosphere the place youngsters and youth popular culture artists can pursue their goals whereas defending their human rights,” mentioned Park Bo-gyun, the nation’s Minister of Tradition, Sports activities and Tourism, per South Korean outlet Maeil Enterprise. 

Okay-pop idols are sometimes placed on extraordinarily strict diets, strenuous coaching schedules, and are closely scrutinized, as beforehand reported on Insider.

Widespread Okay-pop lady band NewJeans’ youngest member, Hyein, simply turned 15 on April 21. The group was not too long ago appointed the worldwide ambassador for big manufacturers like Levi’s and Coca-Cola, per Life-style Asia. 

This invoice is handed amidst rising considerations from the general public concerning the well being and security of minors within the extremely demanding Korean leisure business, as corporations proceed to debut Okay-pop idols at youthful ages.