The labor dispute between kids YouTuber HeyJini (real name Kang Hye-jin) and a former employee has escalated again, with the ex-staffer publishing employment documents on October 28 to rebut the company’s earlier explanation point by point. The new rebuttal, reported by Sports Seoul, Chosun Biz, Newsis, and MoneyToday, centers on a single disputed number: how much the employee’s salary actually rose.
The former employee, identified only as A, said she joined the company at an annual salary of 20 million won and received just one raise during her tenure, to 21 million won. That is a 5 percent increase, she said — not the 25 percent raise the company had claimed — and she asked the company to explain what basis it used to arrive at the 25 percent figure. To support her account, A published her withholding tax receipt for employment income, a confirmation of her resignation, and an industrial accident decision notice, according to the reports.
A had first raised allegations of labor exploitation against HeyJini, and the company behind her channel, KidsWorks, responded by saying it had paid her salary without problems under its wage system, raised her pay by 25 percent, and offered consideration such as adjusted working hours and remote work. A said she published the documents because the company’s statement contained claims that differed from what she actually experienced.
The two sides also disagree sharply on working conditions. The company said it had shown consideration through remote work and adjusted hours, but A said she never worked from home during her employment. She said long overtime hours and late finishes were repeated, and that taxi fares paid by the company were a consequence of those late nights rather than a perk. She also published emails exchanged with a rental company, saying that while she was hospitalized after a fall, a laptop was rented using the company’s business registration and she was contacted about returning it while still in hospital.
A’s account of her workload is central to her complaint. She said she began work on HeyJini’s Chinese-language channel at HeyJini’s suggestion but ended up handling virtually the entire production process alone, including scriptwriting, translation, voice actor casting, dubbing direction, video editing, and uploading. She said the heavy workload damaged her health and led to conflict with the company over her industrial accident application. The company has denied obstructing that application, saying it respected her wishes and introduced an outside certified labor attorney so she could receive counseling directly.
The terms of her departure are also disputed. The company said A resigned voluntarily, but A said HeyJini’s husband, who was a company director, told her it would be difficult to continue working together. According to E Today, A said she agreed to resign on the understanding that it would be processed as a recommended resignation so she could receive unemployment benefits, but it was ultimately recorded as a resignation due to illness and she did not receive the benefits.
The dispute over leave pay follows a similar pattern of partial agreement and conflicting interpretation. A acknowledged receiving 2,691,482 won in December 2018 but said that sum combined pay for her actual working period with a year-end bonus. She said the 2.2 million won bonus shown on her 2018 withholding receipt was a year-end bonus paid to employees generally, not special support given only to her during her leave, and she disputed the company’s framing of it as separate assistance during her time off. She also said the company first proposed unpaid leave in late 2018, when repeated panic attacks made it difficult for her to work normally.
A was careful to say she is not denying that she received support. Sports Seoul reported that she acknowledged the leave itself and assistance with a housing deposit, but said support and difficult working conditions are separate issues. “I do not deny that I received support,” she said, according to the outlet, adding that she wanted the circumstances of her work, and why it led to leave and resignation, to be known alongside it.
E Today also reported that an additional whistleblower has come forward with further claims, suggesting the dispute may widen beyond A’s case. For now, though, the core disagreement remains unresolved: the two sides agree that money and support changed hands, but they tell fundamentally different stories about how much, on what terms, and at what human cost. With documents now public on both sides of the argument, the dispute between HeyJini and her former employee looks set to continue.
