[New Square 10] "Illegal Gambling" LEE JINHO, the broadcasting industry...Hani's attendance at the National Assembly.

■ Host: Lee Jung-seop Anchor
■ Video call: Kim Heon-sik, pop culture critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN New Square 10AM] when quoting.

[Anchor]
As I told you, the broadcasting industry was devastated by comedian Lee Jin-ho's illegal gambling. Meanwhile, New Jeans Hani will appear at the National Assembly this afternoon. Let's talk about the issues related to the entertainment industry. Kim Heon-sik, a pop culture critic, is connected. Good afternoon, critic.

[Kim Heon-sik]
Hello?

[Anchor]
Lee Jin-ho confessed to illegal gambling himself. Yesterday, on social media. BTS Jimin and Lee Soo-geun are mentioned in the list. So you borrowed money from them and spent it on gambling?

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. Due to the nature of celebrities, most of their acquaintances will become celebrities. As a result, celebrities have cash liquidity, so in this respect, they borrowed money from acquaintances and gambled illegally. However, it has been known that it does not seem to have mobilized money like this while announcing illegal gambling, and in the case of Jimin of BTS, there are rumors that he even used an agreement for lending 100 million won. And for Lee Soogeun...

[Anchor]
It is known that they borrowed tens of millions of won to hundreds of millions of won. In the end, it is a matter of checking later whether the borrowed money was used in connection with gambling or how much the overall debt was, but in June, he was sued for not paying back the borrowed money and was accused of fraud. He said he borrowed money using his parents' excuses to borrow money.

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. So there's no one to help when you say you're using funds for illegal gambling. As a result, it is known that I borrowed money using my parents as an excuse, so I am in a hurry for my parents' work. And I need money because I have to pay taxes, which is a different justification, a kind of lie. It is known that hundreds of millions of won was reached through lies, and the money was used for illegal gambling and Internet gambling.

[Anchor]
The controversy grew because there were many celebrities who had played illegal gambling before, but they wasted their property, but borrowing such a large amount of money caused damage to many people. Attention is focusing on how you came to touch illegal gambling, what do you think?

[Kim Heon-sik]
He said he fell into illegal gambling by chance in 2020. In addition, he has been doing it for about four years without being able to cut it off in a situation where he is socially active and recognized. The thing I took most seriously was that I owed a lot of debt to my acquaintances, so I was sued. As a result, some reports said that this fact would reach 7 billion won even if it reached an unaffordable level. Eventually, the fact became known, and he revealed that he was in a situation where he could not participate in entertainment activities and said he would work hard to repay his debt. This is not a celebrity's problem, but because illegal gambling on the Internet is very serious, it can be interpreted as a symbol of the widespread possibility that other ordinary people can easily fall into.

[Anchor]
In fact, when I confessed on social media yesterday, it was an OTT entertainment program production presentation, but I was not there. Broadcasters and production companies will be very confused about this confession or this situation. What's the atmosphere like?

[Kim Heon-sik]
There was a mistake in the cast. In the case of one broadcast program, they officially announced that they would leave the company. But the problem will be the program produced by the online video platform. In this program, I recently said in a production briefing that this program is not shaken by one person's private life because it is a program made by many people. So, since it is not a domestic broadcasting program, but a global OTT, these criticisms are being made in this regard. So, there may be controversy over whether it is appropriate to do it without editing. In that sense, there seem to be voices that say we should broadcast in a situation where we have edited as much as possible.

[Anchor]
I hope that the news of gambling in the entertainment industry, which is heard when it's forgotten, will be eradicated. I'm also interested in this afternoon's news. Hani, a member of the group Newzins, will attend the National Assembly. I'm a reference for the Environment and Labor Commission's national audit, so can you point out why I'm here?

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. We plan to express our position directly on the suspicion of bullying in the workplace. As is well known, they claimed to have been ignored by other subsidiary managers and celebrities. In the case of Hive, since it is a multi-label system, there are several companies in it, and in the process, he said that he was directly ignored by managers, so he is expected to ask various questions and express his position to ask if it is bullying in the workplace.

[Anchor]
This is considered to be a place to prove that YouTube was ignored by the manager of another subsidiary company, but he decided to attend the audit himself and informed the fans directly through the platform. Where did the driving force of the decision come from?

[Kim Heon-sik]
As a result, I think CEO Min Hee-jin's issues may be related. As a result, despite the fact that there have been unfair treatment, Hive has not acknowledged any of those. Furthermore, if even CEO Min Hee-jin is in an unstable position, this could affect Newzins, so I think it's a decision to make with confidence what has happened in general.

In the meantime, CEO Min Hee-jin has not had a chance to speak directly about the situation in which Newzins was actually in the midst of such controversy. I think it will be a public debate at the National Assembly this time. What's important is that even if it's an idol group, it's expected to open a place to discuss it in terms of whether it has a worker's character.

[Anchor]
We're scheduled to attend the National Assembly at 2 p.m. today, so we'll connect again and point out the issue. New Jeans is receiving a lot of attention in the National Assembly. The National Assembly of Korea Communications Standards Commission said it will determine the level of disciplinary action regarding New Jeans' iPhone performance, which was controversial on the popular song stage last year.

[Kim Heon-sik]
If I explain about it, the members of Newzins on the "Inkigayo" stage will use their cell phones and smartphones. There is a scene where you perform with a smartphone. But it was a new smartphone. But the important thing is that there was a smartphone advertisement right after the broadcast. That's why there was a controversy over whether this was an indirect advertisement. In this regard, it was controversial because it was connected to the management of the agency, rather than the responsibility of the members of Newzins themselves. At first, there was an opinion that there was no problem in the advisory committee, but there was a problem in the Korea Communications Standards Commission. This is not aimed at advertising effects, so the Korea Communications Standards Commission eventually went to the stage of determining the level of disciplinary action today.

[Anchor]
I see. We talked about issues related to the entertainment industry with Kim Heon-sik, a pop culture critic. Thank you for talking today.