Another Former Employee Comes Forward With Workplace Allegations at Hey Jini's Company... "Exploited Within the Bounds of the Law"

Former employees of kids' YouTuber Hey Jini make a series of allegations
"Worked 16 hours a day for an annual salary of 20 million won"
"Cunningly exploited the law... gaslighting and pressure, too"
Claims remain unverified, however

Former employees have made a series of allegations about the working conditions at Kidsworks, the company run by popular kids' creator Hey Jini (real name Kang Hyejin), who has about 4.1 million subscribers. Former employee A spoke publicly about long working hours, declining health, and the process of having her condition recognized as an occupational accident. Another former employee, B, later alleged that employees had to work weekends and overtime and described problems during the resignation process. These are the claims of the two individuals, however, and the specific facts have not been verified. Hey Jini's side has yet to issue a separate statement.

Kids creator Hey Jini (real name Kang Hyejin). YouTube capture.

Former employee: "Working 16 hours a day on a 20 million won annual salary... Occupational accident recognized due to panic disorder"

The controversy began with an account posted by A, a former employee and longtime friend of Hey Jini. A recently wrote on an online community that she joined the company in December 2016 after being offered a position as a creator for a Chinese-language channel, but claimed that in practice she was paid an annual salary of 20 million won and had to handle all aspects of operating the channel by herself.

In her post, A said, "I started on an annual salary of 20 million won, which was later raised to 21 million won, but I worked at the company for nearly two years without receiving overtime pay. I worked late into the night every day and had to work weekends more than five times a month. My workday lasted as long as 16 hours." A said her health deteriorated due to the excessive workload and that she was diagnosed with panic disorder and anxiety. After a process lasting about a year, her condition was recognized as an occupational accident in January 2020. She said she experienced such severe difficulties that she attempted suicide in April of the same year.

Explaining why she decided to speak out, A stressed, "The pain has still not ended for me, but what was being shown on broadcasts was so different from the reality I experienced. I wrote this not to criticize or attack any particular person, but to share the actual working conditions, the process of filing for recognition of an occupational accident, and what I went through during that process."

Another former employee comes forward... "They appeared to exploit the system cleverly without crossing the line into legal trouble"

As the controversy intensified following A's allegations, B, who identified herself as a former Kidsworks employee, made further allegations on October 27, presenting a certificate confirming her enrollment in the four social insurance programs as evidence.

B said, "After reading A's post, I thought about it for a long time before finding the courage to speak up." She added, "I had heard through the grapevine about an employee who had suffered from panic disorder when she joined the company. They say conditions changed after that incident, but in practice, nothing really changed. If anything, it seemed they were cleverly exploiting the system in ways that would not get them into legal trouble."

B also alleged that employees were not given compensatory time off for weekend and holiday work, that the inclusive wage system was exploited to impose unlimited overtime, and that employees were refused permission to resign and subjected to ongoing gaslighting. B said, "When an employee said they wanted to resign, they would engage in gaslighting that undermined the employee's self-esteem, saying, 'Are you really going to give up so easily?'" She continued, "They seemed to take advantage of the fact that new employees starting out in their careers did not know that their resignation would be processed once the notice period had passed. Even when someone clearly stated their intention to resign, they would not process it on time and instead seemed to use persuasion and pressure." She added, "I want to support the person who found the courage to speak up first and reveal the truth." However, the claims made by the two about the working conditions still require further verification.

Hey Jini's side remains silent... Attention turns to whether it will issue an official statement

Hey Jini, who has about 4.1 million subscribers, has established herself as a leading figure in the kids' creator industry. In 2018, she was named one of Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30, and she has also received a Minister of Science and ICT Commendation. In particular, she previously appeared on KBS2's variety show "Boss in the Mirror," where she was introduced as a company head who had no overtime and shared an autonomous culture with her employees

. To date, Hey Jini's side has not issued a separate statement.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.