"You're Accepted," Paid Millions of Won... Wave of Victims Follows

[Anchor]

There are academy-style entertainment agencies that lure parents and children dreaming of becoming celebrities or models into signing contracts worth millions of won by promising them opportunities to work. However, the actual opportunities to perform are severely lacking, and victims are piling up as they fail to receive proper refunds even after canceling their contracts.

Jeong Seong-jin reports.

[Reporter]

In September of last year, Person A paid 2.97 million won for a two-year contract after hearing the news that their child had been selected as a kids' model.

Contrary to the explanation that there would be active modeling offers, there was only one modeling offer over seven months, and even that was an internal shoot for the agency.

When A tried to get a refund for the remaining period, the company notified them that there was no money to return because they had spent more on things like profile photography.

[Person A: I signed the contract because they said I could get a refund excluding a 10% penalty, but then they sent me a settlement statement saying there was no amount to refund.]

Minor B, who passed an acting audition and paid 4 million won for a one-year contract, was disappointed after receiving training just once.

[Minor B: They just taught me a bit about vocalization and diaphragmatic breathing, handed me a script, and made me read it.]

She requested contract termination after two weeks, but the company demanded a 39% penalty plus additional costs, returning less than half her money.

[Mother of Minor B: I checked other places, and they said nobody does (acting education) like that. But they even billed us for the cost of booking a profile (photo shoot).]

Damage from so-called "academy-style entertainment agencies" that provide education and debut opportunities to children dreaming of becoming celebrities is rapidly increasing.

Damage reports filed with the Korea Consumer Agency surged more than threefold, from 41 cases in 2023 to 148 cases last year.

Contract cancellation-related damages accounted for 98.6%, and settlements such as refunds were reached in less than half of the cases.

[Person A: (We) tried to make good memories for the child, but we suffered a lot of economic and psychological stress...]br>
The Korea Consumer Agency advised people not to be dazzled by audition acceptance notices, but to check actual casting performance records and refund conditions before signing contracts.

(Video Editing: Lee Hong-myung, Design: Cho Soo-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.