Source: Segye Ilbo · 연예

What happened

According to Segye Ilbo, broadcaster Jang Young-ran, actor Hyeri, and singer Song Ga-in have repeatedly put manager and production-staff pay ahead of their own contract fees. Each asked agencies—or spent personal money—to improve conditions for the people who schedule shoots and travel with them daily.

The August 16 piece is not a new labor rule. It reconnects years of variety-show remarks, YouTube clips, and SNS posts as fans debate how Korea’s star system treats crew behind the camera.

The breakdown

Jang Young-ran said on MBC’s Radio Star (September 8, 2021) that she asked her agency to cut her contract fee and raise manager and stylist salaries instead. Segye reports her fee fell while staff pay rose sharply. On August 12, her seventh-year manager retold the story on YouTube A-grade Jang Young-ran, noting she joined later and missed that raise. Segye also cites staff gifts—from a London souvenir for a manager with a 12-month-old child to farewell gifts for writers and camera crews on her last day on Channel A’s Modern Parenting — My Golden Child.

Hyeri re-signed without a contract fee, Segye says, on the condition that bonuses go to staff who feared being stranded if she left. A staff member disclosed the deal in an April 24 YouTube video; Segye quotes him saying the team “all cried” and that he remains with her in a seventh year. Hyeri later took To You in Dream hair and makeup staff to the Maldives; one staffer said it was his first passport stamp. Segye also notes Shin Dong-yeop’s claim on Jjanhan Hyung that Hyeri spent several million won—and possibly tens of millions—on prizes when leaving tvN’s Amazing Saturday.

Song Ga-in asked her agency to raise manager salaries by 15%, she said on MBC’s Omniscient Interfering View (July 2, 2022), and paid personal bonuses. Segye cites an April 7 SNS post of her shopping for a roughly 2 million won mattress as a manager’s wedding gift, plus a car—replacing one lost to a scam sale. She linked the habit to pre-fame Miss Trot days without an agency, riding buses and borrowed cars.

Why it matters outside Korea

Global K-content fans, aspiring creators in Seoul, and entertainment lawyers watching Korea’s export boom should read this as a labor-structure story, not gossip. Contract fees and agency deals shape who can stay employed when a star moves—or stays. Overseas co-producers also inherit reputational risk when crews describe unstable pay while stars post luxury travel content. Segye’s record lives largely in variety shows and YouTube confessions, not formal HR filings.

What travelers and expats should watch

• Freelancers on sets: ask who pays you—the star’s team, the agency, or the production company. Segye’s cases involve agency renegotiation and personal gifts, not a government wage rule.
• YouTube staff clips on Jang’s and Hyeri’s channels are primary color for this beat; treat fan translations as secondary until you verify Korean audio.
• Do not assume every top artist does this. Three named cases do not rewrite standard manager economics.
• English “renewed” headlines: check whether Korean reports mention 계약금 (contract fee) versus staff bonuses—Segye’s frame is the latter.

Context

Read this as proof that star power can redirect money to staff, not as evidence Korea’s entertainment labor market is fixed. Segye stacks Jang fee cut / Hyeri no contract fee + staff bonus / Song 15% raise + personal gifts—specific, heartwarming, and still dependent on individual leverage. Korelay’s frame: useful for expats mapping how loyalty is performed in Hallyu workplaces; useless as a salary benchmark.

Source

Segye Ilbo · 연예: “내 계약금 없어도 된다”…매니저 먼저 챙긴 장영란·혜리·송가인 — Korean original; paraphrased for briefing; figures and dates from Segye; read the original for full detail.