Recently, YouTube channel Level B studio apartment released a new video featuring former child actors Heo Jeong Min, Kang Rae Yeon and Seo Jae Kyung. During the conversation, the three candidly discussed the toxic work environment and corruption they encountered while working as child actors.
Kang Rae Yeon recalled that child actors of her generation were treated very differently from young artists today. “We weren’t treated then like child actors are now. There was no sense of fulfillment in our work and there were no protections for child actors,” he said. He added that although today’s child actors can earn considerable incomes, performers of his era were placed in a classification system that strictly determined their pay, meaning even the most famous child actors earned very little.
Heo Jeong Min explained that the ranking system ranged from rank 1 to rank 5, with rank 5 reserved for the most successful child actors and rank 1 for the least recognized ones. Kang Rae Yeon revealed that the highest fee for television participation at the time was only 250,000 won per episode.
He also described the demanding filming schedules they endured as children. According to Kang, night filming was routine, often continuing from daytime scenes straight into nighttime filming before returning to daytime scenes again once the sun rose. She noted that their parents also endured tremendous hardship as they supported them through these grueling programs.
Seo Jae Kyung then made an even more startling revelation, claiming that corruption was widespread during that period. “Looking back, it seems like a corrupt system,” he said. “People in positions of power accepted bribes in many forms, including food, drinks, and gifts. Many mothers paid them in the hope that their children would be promoted to a higher rank as child actors.”
The three also spoke about the physical abuse they suffered on set. They argued that mistakes were often punished with severe punishments rather than simple reprimands. “When we made mistakes, we weren’t just scolded: we were punished so severely that we bled,” they remembered. They further claimed that if a child actor struggled to cry during an emotional scene, some staff members would physically beat him to force genuine tears. “It would be unimaginable today” they said.
Seo Jae Kyung clarified that most of the directors they worked with were kind and professional, noting that only a minority of individuals committed such abusive acts. However, he said these incidents created a toxic atmosphere that negatively affected the entire manufacturing environment.
Their candid testimony quickly became a major talking point in the South Korean media. Heo Jeong Min, Kang Rae Yeon, and Seo Jae Kyung, all born in the early 1980s, began acting at an early age and continued working in the entertainment industry into adulthood. Despite their painful experiences, all three agree that working conditions for child actors have improved greatly since they first entered the industry.
Sources: kenh14
