BIGBANG’s Daesung has come under scrutiny for his comments regarding staff pay.
On February 28th, Daesung invited BLACKPINK’s Lisa to his YouTube channel “ZIP Daesung” for a conversation. During their chat, Lisa briefly took time for a hair and makeup touch-up. Noticing Daesung watching idly, Lisa asked, “Aren’t you getting a touch-up?”
Daesung replied, “The person who does my touch-ups has left,” explaining, “They leave, take care of business nearby, then come back—they’re free.” He then added, “But I pay them for the time they’re here, and if they go somewhere else, I don’t pay them for that time.” Listening to this, Lisa quipped, “That’s not bad. I don’t need a touch-up either, so you can leave too,” quickly adopting Daesung’s approach and drawing laughs.
What passed as a joking conversation has sparked debate across Korean online communities.
Internet users criticized: “It seems Daesung keeps his makeup staff on standby without paying for that time. Is he in his right mind?” “This is a famous labor rights violation called ‘kkeokgi,'” “Either Daesung’s entire YouTube production team routinely violates labor laws, or the production team routinely suffers labor law violations from Daesung – one of the two.”
“Kkeokgi” refers to when employers change workers’ clock-in/out times or arbitrarily measure working hours to pay less wages, regardless of workers’ wishes.
Others defended the artist: “It was obviously a joke,” “They’re attacking a light-hearted comment like it’s a serious offense,” and “It seems wrong to criticize without knowing the full details.”
Some argue that using such practices as joke material, even in jest, is inappropriate.
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