South Korea. Scandal has struck KBS2’s popular show “Dogs Are Incredible.” The main star of the show, Kang Hyung-wook, has been accused of workplace bullying and running his company like a slave shop.
The show in South Korea was aired on television channel KBS2, and attracted a large following on social media. On May 20 the show was cancelled becuase of the outrageous slurs from employees who had been victimized by Mr Kang and his wife.
The company behind Mr Kang’s success, Bodeum Company, has since generated heated comments from former employees. Now the reputation of the company is in tatters. It has got so bad that the online job platform JobPlanet rates the company as only 1.8 out of 5 stars.
Former Employees Speak Out
A former employee “Ha-yoon” (not a real name), in a review seen by allkpop, talked about their depression after resigning from Bodeum Company:
“After leaving the company, I’ve been dealing with panic disorder, anxiety disorder, depression, and more. My mental health suffered due to constant gaslighting, personal insults from the CEO and his wife, and demands extending beyond work.”
Ha-yoon
Even more controversial allegations were aired in the JobPlanet review:
“They monitor the messengers, and they review it overnight to see if (employees) curse about them, and harass (the employees).”
Ha-yoon
Another employee “Young-Soon” (not a real name) discussed the awful environment of the company with a disturbing allegation about the Kang’s violence:
“They mistreat their employees. They take out their frustrations by throwing items.”
Young-Soon
But the worst allegation came from a Kang’s own YouTube channel which has 2.1 million followers. The channel features Kang helping couples with the wild behavior of their small spoilt dogs.
In the comments section on the YouTube channel, “Kang Hyung Wook’s Bodeum TV,” a person, who cannot be revealed because of possible prosecution by the South Korean government, discussed a disturbing incident. They had received a bag of six spam cans in a dog waste bag as an annual “Chuseok” holiday gift. This caused them extreme stress.
Several other bullied employees claimed Kang’s wife made them work “extreme labor in extreme cold and extreme heat.” They posted that they received psychiatric treatment for panic disorder, anxiety and depression after working at the company.
With such incidents piling up on social media, the allegations of appalling behavior have not yet been addressed by Kang Hyung-wook or his wife. The “Dogs Are Incredible” show remains off-air and it is unknown if production will continue.
