It has belatedly come to light that a one-person agency founded by singer Lee Hi was operated illegally for more than five years without being registered with the relevant authorities.
Lee Hi reportedly completed the registration only after the government-designated grace period for mass registration, which ended late last year, making it difficult for her to avoid administrative penalties.
According to an investigation by Field News on the 27th, the entertainment agency 808Hi Recordings, headed by Lee Hi, completed its registration as a popular culture and arts planning business with the Mapo District Office on the 21st.
This comes a full five years and nine months after the company’s incorporation in April 2020.
The corporation was initially established in April 2020 under the name Lee Hi Co., Ltd., but its actual operations had remained largely undisclosed.
A review of the corporate registry shows that Lee Hi herself currently serves as CEO, while her older sister, identified as Lee, is an internal director, indicating a family-run company structure.
The company was also found to have changed its name three times in recent months.
Specifically, it changed its name to 808Hi Recordings in June of last year, reverted to Lee Hi Co., Ltd. in November, and then changed it once again to its current name on January 5, just prior to registering as a planning business.
Under the current Act on the Development of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry, corporations or individual businesses (with more than one person) that conduct entertainment management or related planning activities without registering with local governments are subject to up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that Lee Hi’s registration came after the expiration of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s designated “guidance period.”
The ministry had designated the end of last year as a mass registration guidance period to legalize the widespread issue of unregistered agencies within the industry and encouraged voluntary registration.
However, Lee Hi’s side initiated the registration process three weeks after this period had ended.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has already announced plans to take strict administrative measures, including criminal complaints, against businesses that remain unregistered after the grace period.
As a result, attention is focused on what kind of action authorities will take against the company, which operated outside the legal framework for more than five years.
In response, a representative from Duuover, Lee Hi’s management agency, stated, “Since Lee Hi had been working under an exclusive contract with our company, we were not aware that a separate registration as a popular culture and arts planning business was required for her personal corporation.”
The representative added, “This occurred due to the ignorance and oversight of both the company and the artist. We sincerely apologize for causing concern, and we will be more diligent in verifying relevant laws and procedures to ensure this does not happen again.”
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