"Working So Hard Without Pay?"... JTBC Faces Billions in Unpaid Appearance Fees

The Korea Broadcasting Actors Union (KBAU) has strongly urged JTBC, which is facing corporate rehabilitation procedures, to protect the rights of actors and establish a plan to repay unpaid appearance fees.

In an official statement released on July 6, the KBAU stated, "The damage suffered by broadcast actors has reached a serious level following JTBC's move toward corporate rehabilitation," adding, "Not only has the production of numerous contents been halted, but the payment of appearance fees has also been delayed for a long period."

The union harshly criticized JTBC, stating that the broadcaster has yet to present a solution and has not shown any effort to communicate sincerely with the affected actors.

According to the KBAU, payments for appearances on JTBC's flagship entertainment programs, such as "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator" and "Knowing Bros," are currently in arrears.

Due to the impact of the rehabilitation process, payments for rebroadcast fees have also been tied up, leading to a chain reaction of disruptions in distributing these fees to actors. The total scale of the damage is estimated to reach several billion won.

The union pointed out JTBC's response, noting that there are no measures to address the chaos on set caused by the suspension of filming, and that the company has been passive in disclosing its repayment plans.

The KBAU urged JTBC to sincerely explain the situation to the actors who lost their jobs due to the production halts and to transparently disclose the status of unpaid appearance fees.

On June 12, JTBC fell into default after failing to repay 20.6 billion won in securitized borrowings upon maturity.

Affiliates including JoongAng Holdings, Contentree JoongAng, JoongAng P&I, and Megabox subsequently filed for the commencement of rehabilitation procedures.

Following this, on June 30, the Seoul Bankruptcy Court approved an Autonomous Restructuring Support (ARS) program for JTBC, which supports voluntary restructuring between a company and its creditors, while deciding to commence rehabilitation procedures for the remaining four affiliates.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.