By News18,Sahas,Shrishti Negi
Copyright news18
Four well-known South Korean artists, CL, actor Gang Dong-won, singer Song Ga-in and Kim Wan-sun, are facing police investigations for running illegal agencies. Each case has been assigned to different police stations, CL and Dong-won to Yongsan, Song Ga In to Seocho and Wan-sun to Dongbu. Authorities say the artists violated the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act by failing to register their companies, which reportedly means that their business was operating without legal protections required by the law.
According to Sports Kyunghyang, running agencies without proper registration allows these celebrities to skip rules designed to ensure artists’ rights. The current investigations began after Ock Joo-hyun’s unregistered agency was discovered and since then, several other artists, including Sung Si Kyung, have come under fire.
Top Korean Stars Under Investigation
The spokesperson pointed out that “registration of a popular culture and arts planning business is not a simple reporting procedure, but a system of management, education, and supervision,” and that “long-term non-registration means that business has been conducted outside of those safety measures, and it is a serious problem that undermines the protection of new talent and youth, the trust of business partners, and market order.”
The complainant went on to argue that “although the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it will operate a ‘uniform registration guidance period for popular culture and arts planning businesses’ until December 31, this guidance period is only a temporary measure for encouraging registration and providing administrative guidance. There is no provision in the current law that retroactively exempts illegal past unregistered operations.”
The insider added, “The period of guidance in question is likely to be misunderstood by the public as ‘leniency,’ and this could send a negative signal to the predictability and fairness of law enforcement. Therefore, any judgment on the punishment in this case should be made regardless of the period of guidance.”
Legal Consequences For Such Violations
Under the current Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act, anyone who wants to run a business in popular culture or arts, like an entertainment agency, must officially register it. If someone runs such a business without registering, they can face serious penalties, including two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won (approximately Rs 12 lakh).
