Most discretionary staff at Gentle Monster's parent went unpaid for night work, ministry survey finds

The survey's percentages are easier to weigh as headcount. Of the 320 workers on discretionary hours ^[4], roughly 230 worked more than 52 hours a week at peak ^[18]. About 57 reported 71 hours or more ^[19], which is a little over ten hours a day spread across all seven days ^[20]. "When I see colleagues working until 11 p.m., midnight or into the early morning hours, I wonder whether a company this abnormal can really exist," one employee said in the anonymous survey ^[1].

According to the responses, night and holiday work became routine without proper compensation as IICOMBINED expanded rapidly ^[13]. Asked for the most urgent fixes, 49.2% of discretionary workers named sufficient staffing, almost level with the 50% who named overtime pay ^[9]. In our view the company grew on the headcount it had and let unpaid evening and holiday hours cover the peaks. It also built a new headquarters in Seongsu-dong in 2025 ^[2]. The report does not include the building's cost, IICOMBINED's payroll or revenue, or a response from the company.

The cheapest outcome for IICOMBINED is to pay the 430 million won the inspection found ^[8] and leave the hours alone. A dearer one keeps the hours and pays night and holiday premiums on them from now on, as a recurring wage cost. The dearest in the near term is hiring to shorten the peaks, the fix nearly half its discretionary staff asked for ^[9]. We think it ends up with the second or third. The data now sits with a member of the National Assembly's labor committee ^[3], and any later survey can be checked against it.

The counter-case is next door. A 2024 ministry inspection at Musinsa, also headquartered in Seongsu-dong, found 128 workers had exceeded the overtime limit by a combined 2,903 hours without premiums ^[11], about 23 hours per worker ^[21]. If that finding cost Musinsa little beyond the premiums, IICOMBINED's will cost it about the same. We are wrong if IICOMBINED pays the arrears, the ministry closes the case and peak-period hours stay where this survey found them.

Complaints from large employers are rare in the district. Last year Seongdong District recorded 805 labor complaints from workers in their 20s and 30s, and 17 of those came from workplaces with 300 or more employees ^[12], about 2.1% ^[22]. This survey alone covered 1,027 IICOMBINED workers ^[17], so the company falls in that size bracket. One of its workers said colleagues who complain about work or meetings outside set hours tend to be branded as lacking passion ^[10].