Watchdog to investigate rights conditions of female entertainers

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- The country's human rights watchdog said Tuesday it
will launch an investigation into the human rights conditions of female
entertainers following the recent suicide of an actress believed to have been
sexually exploited.
In an announcement of its investigation plan for 2009, the National Human Rights
Commission of Korea said it will launch the probe into the working conditions of
female entertainers as early as June.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing police investigation into the death of
Jang Ja-yeon, the 30-year-old television actress, last month. Jang allegedly
killed herself after her agent forced her to provide sexual and other favors to
several high-powered entertainment figures and journalists.
The commission, in a statement, estimated that many other actresses were exposed
to threats of sexual exploitation within the entertainment industry. It also
suspected that most of them were uninsured and underpaid.
"There hasn't been a systematic case study of rights conditions for female
entertainers so far," the commission said.
The study, expected to be wrapped up by the end of the year, is intended to serve
as a supplement in creating policies to improve rights protection for the broader
entertainment industry, it said.
The commission also plans to conduct studies in other human rights-related areas,
including gathering of private information and the rights of the homeless and the
aged population.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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