Korean netizens ask the victims to name the faceless CEO ‘A,’ described as ‘the best idol of his generation.’
After a former trainee detailed their traumatic experience on bada.io, more former trainees from that company and even staff members shared their experience under the sadistic CEO A. Allthekpop reported and translated the former staff members’ exposes of their assaults.
On June 9, a poster professed that they were former staff of the unnamed company. In the post, they detailed CEO A’s poor behavior and supported the other netizen’s claim that this person is a first-generation idol. The staff member revealed that they decided to leave the entertainment industry altogether after their experience in the company and disappointment with the CEO.
The former staff used to be a fan that she decided to work for his company despite the rumors and high employee turnover rate. They wrote, “After I decided to work for this company, my acquaintances told me that there are many managers who quit because of the CEO’s poor behavior. But I just thought they were rumors and brushed it off. However, that was the worst regret of my life.”
In the report, the former staff elaborated on the struggles and shame she experienced while working in the agency for three months. First, there were no managers, which she found strange and thought the agency was currently hiring new managers. Instead, the CEO didn’t hire managers but demanded the staff member get a management license. The former staff took the CEO’s road manager duties on top of her original ones. She had to follow the CEO for his schedule. Usually, he only brought a manager and stylist to travel with him. Then, CEO A only brought her and another staff member to take charge of promotions in China. She found out that this was done to cut costs and save money.
The CEO did not provide any meals or water, and she had to work all day, outdoors and even on the hottest days of summer. She shared a bad memory of picking him up at 4-5 AM for outdoor filming. They started early morning and finished late at night. Due to the circumstances, she and the other staff member didn’t even get food or water. The sun was hot, and they weren’t prepared for the weather. When they told the CEO that they needed to buy food and water for the next day as there weren’t any supermarkets or restaurants near the film location, the CEO told them not to buy water and ask around.
The next day, the CEO went with the production team. The former staff member and her co-worker didn’t get to eat anything until the filming was done. But the CEO had eaten lunch with the production team. They were suffering, asking for water, and couldn’t even eat. The CEO said nothing and told them to get him the snacks they bought the other day.
The poster revealed that CEO A often spoke rudely, even throwing his socks at her after taking them off. CEO A did not care for the trainees, only himself. The CEO often blamed the staff members for his mistakes, even forcing staff members to beg forgiveness in front of other clients. He frequently verbally abused the former staff member, even going as far as insulting her parents, saying,” Your parents didn’t teach you properly.” He often called her stupid. Yet, CEO A had a clean image on television. His image is that of an upright young man who worked hard to save money. But the CEO only saved that much money by stealing music from rookie songwriters and producers, telling them, “You should be honored to work with me.”
The former staff member included a photo of herself dated back in 2014. She was still employed in CEO A’s company then and even had the plane ticket for when he made her pick him up from the Incheon airport on her day off.
Naver reports that several individuals who were former trainees from CEO A’s company also came forward. One post stated that the company the former trainee described might be the company they used to work for, where they were also assaulted and verbally abused. The post said they sympathize with the victim deeply and hope they recover from their trauma soon.
Another poster came forward, stating they were also a former staff member. This post was publicly shared on June 10, following the first staff member’s experience on June 9. The anonymous poster stated they worked as an employee at the agency run by CEO A, who is currently stirring controversy for assaulting trainees. However, this has been going on for a long time. The poster confessed they were aware of the former trainee’s traumatic experience in 2016. At that time, the staff member couldn’t offer the trainee any help or comfort. To this day, they feel extreme guilt. They told the former trainee, “I’m sorry, and I hope you will forgive me.”
The former staff member shared her experience of being assaulted by CEO A. The first time was during an overseas trip to China in 2014. After completing their schedule, they took a taxi to the restaurant. CEO A hit the former staff member with his gloved hand out of the blue. Note that he didn’t do it playfully but with force. The former staff member was shocked that she couldn’t remember what happened next after the incident. She went to the hotel room and cried. CEO A pretended nothing had happened, even sending a photo of the food they ate at the restaurant.
The second time of assault took place at the KBS building in 2019. She was securing the CEO’s earpiece and microphone right before the stage when CEO A suddenly cursed and hit their hand. During their period of employment, CEO A also verbally abused her. Like the first former staff member, she heard countless curses and insults about her character. It was her own volition to continue working there. Someone even told her that CEO A hit her less as she’s a woman.
When she left, she confronted CEO A about his past actions. Instead, he accused her of lying. She still remembers how he publicly degraded her so casually, saying, “Stop acting like you’re a nice person.” To this day, her hands shake, and her heart hurts when she thinks of those memories.
The former staff member also attached a photo of her in the post.
Who is CEO A? Why is he still out and about, violating people’s rights and ruining their lives? As people speculate that these posters fear being slammed with a lawsuit, others ask other high officials to protect the netizens so that CEO A’s atrocities will finally be revealed and justice will be served.
