Another Famous Kpop Girl Group Member Is Operating A One-Man Agency Illegally, Agency Issues Response
2NE1’s CL has been found to have been operating her one-person agency “Very Cherry” without registering as a pop culture and arts planning business.
According to TenAsia’s coverage on the 18th of September, CL operated her one-person agency “Very Cherry” for about five years without registering as a pop culture and arts planning business. Very Cherry is a company CL established in 2020. A Very Cherry representative told TenAsia, “We recently confirmed the fact of non-registration and are recognizing it seriously. We are currently proceeding quickly with the related registration process.”
Recently, the industry has been self-checking whether one-person agencies established directly by celebrities are being operated legally. This comes as cases of one-person agencies being run without registering as pop culture and arts planning businesses have been revealed one after another. Musical actor Ock Joo Hyun, singers Sung Si Kyung and Song Ga In, and actor Kang Dong Won are among those who established or operated such one-person agencies. Among them, Ock Joo Hyun and Sung Si Kyung have been reported and are under police investigation.
According to the Act on the Development of the Pop Culture and Arts Industry, corporations or individual businesses above a certain scale that manage or handle the management of entertainers must register as a planning business. Failure to comply may result in imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.
As unregistered cases continue to emerge, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that it will operate a “collective registration guidance period” until December 31 to induce the industry to voluntarily fulfill its legal obligations. After that, if unregistered status is confirmed, they plan to respond strongly with administrative investigations and requests for prosecution.
Source: (A)
