Who is Ahn Ho-young? National Assembly member faces allegations of using NewJeans' Hanni's workplace audit for personal gains

Ahn Ho-young is a South Korean diplomat, a member of the National Assembly, and Labor Committee chairman, who also served as the Ambassador to the US from 2013 to 2017. On Tuesday, October 1, he was criticized for allegedly using NewJeans' Hanni's workplace audit for his personal gains.

Recently, the National Assembly announced that they will be holding an audit on October 25 regarding workplace harassment that Hanni was allegedly facing under HYBE Labels. This audit was revealed to have been planned to unveil and address the harassment and bullying that artists in the K-pop idol industry undergo.

However, Ahn Ho-young soon began to face backlash and criticism for his choice to conduct a national audit centered around workplace harassment. Many netizens pointed out that he is using the popularity of the issue to garner more attention for himself.

People also expressed that he might not fully understand the weight of the audit he's conducting. Ahn Ho-young, after receiving around 50 comments criticizing his choice to hold an audit around NewJeans for alleged personal gains, reportedly disabled his blog's comment sections. This was compared to the millions of hate comments and online harassment K-pop idols face on a daily basis.

Therefore, netizens expressed that he neither understood the issue nor was the right person to hold a national audit regarding the same. Moreover, a few netizens also brought forth his alleged previous negligence to underline that Ahn Ho-young planned to hold the upcoming audit purely for his personal gain. Two months ago, he supposedly attended a discussion of the Aricell fire that took place in Hwaseong.

The incident, where several lithium batteries exploded, led to the tragic death of 23 innocent lives and Aricell was criticized for its negligence. However, Ahn Ho-young was one among the six lawmakers who allegedly simply left the discussion without making any contributions. He was also subsequently criticized for the same.

Therefore, fans of NewJeans and netizens believe that the National Assembly member might not be truly concerned about Hanni or other K-pop idols' workplace harassment in the industry. They also expressed that this issue raised by Hanni might be played on by him to gain popularity and fame due to the current heavy media and internet discussions around this issue.

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All you need to know about the National Assembly member, Ahn Ho-young, who's scheduled to hold an audit on NewJeans Hanni's workplace harassment

Ahn Ho-young is a South Korean diplomat born on July 5, 1956. After graduating from the Seoul National University with a degree in political science, he joined the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979. He kickstarted his first overseas posting at the South Korean embassy in New Delhi, India.

Following this, he continuously served in roles concerning trade issues such as Director of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's International Trade Law Division, Director General for the Multilateral Trade Bureau, and Deputy Minister for Trade. In 2011, he became the South Korean ambassador to the European Union and Belgium.

Translation: "New Jeans Hanni, the reason why CEO Kim Joo-young is called to the National Assembly"

In the next year, he was promoted to the First Vice Foreign Minister. Additionally, between the years 2013 and 2017, he also stood as the South Korean ambassador to the United States. Currently, his roles revolve in and around the National Assembly, particularly the Labor Committee.

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While the workplace audit regarding NewJeans' Hanni's reported harassment under HYBE Labels is scheduled to happen on October 25, netizens are still critical and unsure about Ahn Ho-young's participation in the same.