HYBE’s “Gwarosa” Death Case Closed—Result Confuses K-Pop Fans

South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor has now concluded that there were no violations of the law from HYBE, which was alleged to have swept under the rug a workplace accident that resulted in death.

On December 21, 2024 (KST), the Seoul Western District Office of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office recently wrapped up its investigation into allegations of HYBE “covering up“ an employee’s gwarosa (death from overwork).

It issued an official response to the complaint case filed stating, “It is difficult to consider [the case] a violation of the law,” and closed the case. The result was, reportedly, communicated to HYBE on December 17.

HYBE Insider Tells All About Employee’s “Gwarosa” Death Uncovered During The Audit

The allegation that HYBE covered up a gwarosa was first brought to public attention during a National Assembly audit back in October. ADOR‘s new CEO, Ju Young Kim, was questioned about the 2022 case where an employee at HYBE collapsed at work and later passed away—said to be due to being overworked. A complaint based on the allegation was filed with the labor office, prompting an investigation into potential violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

2022년 9월경 하이브 직원이 사무실에서 일하다 과로사로 쓰러져 사망한 은폐 사건이 국정감사에서 밝혀짐 pic.twitter.com/SLBVXlAMKW

— ᙏ̤̫ (@amorrmanet) October 15, 2024

National Assembly Member: We received a tip-off that in 2022, an employee of HYBE had fainted in the office and was brought to the hospital where they passed away. Is that true?

Ju Young Kim: Yes, from what I know, in September 2022, an employee went to the break room around 5pm, saying they would take a rest. Unfortunately they passed out, and we found them in the break room and moved them to the hospital. They passed away a few days later due to their personal illness. It’s an unfortunate case.

National Assembly Member: Personal illness, you say? Well, all of the officials here think that it is overwork. Back then, HYBE was expanding its label system and workers had to take care of multiple artists at the same time, going for overseas schedules at the same time. There were many cases like this in your workers where they had to work all day and all night. I checked with the Korea Workers’ Welfare Organization and there was no application for accidental workplace incidents. You claim that it was due to their personal illness, but we think you should’ve checked on the problem, and we deem it due to overwork. We want to ask if the company tried to conceal the death through overwork.

A labor office official explained, “In this case, no industrial accident claim was filed with the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service, and the determination of a work-related health complication was not confirmed, leading to the conclusion that it is difficult to regard this as a legal violation.”

In other words, since the bereaved family did not file a claim for a workplace accident, it was not possible to assess whether the death was due to overwork.

Additionally, the investigation looked into whether it was a workplace accident but also whether the accident was actively covered up. The ministry concluded that concealment “cannot be established” if the bereaved family does not view the case as a workplace accident.

Following Segye‘s exclusive report on the result of the case, K-Pop fans have taken to online communities expressing disappointment—but more so, confusion at the conclusion reached, as well as the logic behind the conclusion.

• “The reasoning for saying it’s not an issue is so evil. They’re basically saying that because no workplace accident claim was filed, there’s no point in determining whether it was a workplace accident or not. This reminds me of how Hanni’s case was also closed because they said she wasn’t considered a worker under the Labor Standards Act, and therefore workplace harassment doesn’t apply. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is essentially handing loopholes to employers to exploit. LOL. If there’s no report, then it’s fine? That means it’s totally possible to cover up deaths caused by overwork or workplace stress now.”
• “If not reporting is all it takes, then who would ever file a claim? Employers would just opt to settle things quietly with the bereaved family.”
• “I just feel for the deceased.”

• “Are you freaking kidding me? LOL. Do they think all the other companies are just being dumb to be reporting workplace accidents over minor issues? The ministry itself is the one who made such a fuss about unreported cases! That’s why at my former job, which was a foreign-based subsidiary, they even issued a notice banning employees from commuting by anything other than public transportation in certain countries, including Korea. LOL. Even senior executives with company cars were told to avoid or were outright banned from driving their own cars to work. This was because if something happened during commuting, and say the employee tried to hide it, the company could face serious consequences later. But why is it different for HYBE? They didn’t even report it, yet it’s not a problem? It’s not something worth debating? LOL.”
• “Wow… I hope the Yoon administration ends soon.”
• “Pfft.”

• “I guess it was a case where HYBE didn’t even need to submit a workplace accident report… since it wasn’t classified as one.”
  • “But what kind of workplace accident requires a report and what kind doesn’t?”
• “Whoa… What even is this?”

As this conclusion will be reflected in the review process for the potential withdrawal of HYBE’s designation as a “Leading Company,” attention is focused on the final outcome of the withdrawal decision.

Read more about the petition to revoke HYBE’s “Leading Company” status here:

Petition To Revoke HYBE’s “Leading Company” Status Gains Enough Signatures For National Assembly