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| Kang Dong-won, CL, Ok Joo-hyun / Photo=DB |
[Sports Today reporter Jeong Ye-won] The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) has issued a response regarding prosecutors’ decisions to suspend prosecution for entertainers referred over alleged failures to register one-person agencies.
In a press release on the 25th, the MCST said it operated a nationwide “registration guidance period” from Sept. 18 of last year through Dec. 31, 2025, intended to cultivate a law-abiding environment across the industry and to establish sound market order in response to cases where some popular culture and arts planning businesses failed to fulfill registration obligations.
The ministry explained that this administrative measure was designed to resolve unregistered statuses resulting from simple administrative errors and to encourage voluntary registration. It emphasized that the guidance period was separate from judicial sanctions and did not exempt illegal acts from liability or punishment. The MCST also said it notified police agencies at every level and local governments that, under special circumstances, investigations into violations discovered during the guidance period could be requested.
The MCST added that it has continuously promoted the registration system—sending individual notices for unregistered cases identified through its monitoring—and that new registrations during the guidance period rose by about 50% compared with the same period the previous year, demonstrating some effect. Nevertheless, unregistered cases persist, so the ministry is currently conducting field surveys with the local governments entrusted with registration duties.
Based on those survey results, the ministry said it will pursue legal measures under the relevant regulations, including requesting investigations, and will review medium- to long-term reforms to the registration system that take so-called one-person agencies into account.
Earlier the same morning, Sports Kyunghyang reported that the Namyangju branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office in Gyeonggi Province and the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office decided to suspend prosecution in the unregistered agency cases involving actor Kang Dong-won and singers CL and Ok Joo-hyun. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office also decided to suspend prosecution for Jo, the older brother of singer Song Ga-in, who runs her agency. These cases had been referred on charges of violating the Act on the Development of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry.
[Sports Today reporter Jeong Ye-won ent@stoo.com]
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