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Eun-joo Lee Wins Wage Lawsuit Against KBS: What This Means for Freelancers in 2026

Daniel Kim Views  

Announcer Lee Eun-joo / Photo=social media capture

[Sports Today reporter Lim Si-ryeong] Announcer Lee Eun-joo, the wife of singer Andy, prevailed in a wage claim lawsuit she filed against KBS.

According to JTBC on the 27th, the Seoul Southern District Court, Civil Division 9, issued a partial judgment in her favor on the 24th in the wage claim she brought against KBS.

The court said that after her reinstatement she had hosted the same programs to such an extent that her duties were indistinguishable from those of full-time announcers, and it was reasonable to apply the full-time (level 4) pay scale to her. The court ordered KBS to pay approximately 289.4 million KRW (approximately $217,050) in unpaid wages.

Lee joined KBS in 2015 as a freelance weathercaster and performed announcer duties. She was excluded from work after 2019 and filed suit; the court found that she had been converted to an indefinite-term contract and had been wrongfully dismissed, and she was reinstated in 2024.

Lee argued that, because she performed the same work as regular announcers, the level-4 pay scale should apply. KBS countered that the level-7 scale was appropriate, citing differences in hiring procedures and job responsibilities.

The court sided with Lee, finding that it was difficult to distinguish her duties from those of full-time announcers and that the discrepancy amounted to unjustified discrimination.

Lee married Andy, a member of the group Shinhwa, in 2022.

[Sports Today reporter Lim Si-ryeong ent@stoo.com]
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