Main opposition lawmaker Rep. Bae Hyun-jin on Saturday urged J. Y. Park, founder of JYP Entertainment, to testify at the upcoming parliamentary audit of South Korean government bodies.
Park, who is the ministerial-level co-chair of the presidential Commission on Pop-Culture Exchange, should "appear and testify confidently at the parliamentary audit," said Bae on Saturday on her Facebook post.
This came amid speculations raised by Bae's office that the Culture Ministry had exclusively offered JYP Entertainment the international trademark rights concerning "Fanomenon," which South Korea expects to kick off next year and could be an equivalent to international music festival Coachella through a 15 billion-won ($11 million) state-led project.
The Commission on Pop-Culture Exchange stated Thursday that the trademark rights were to be transferred from JYP Entertainment to a relevant company once the trademark rights were completely filed by Park's agency.
The agency had been through a similar procedure concerning the domestic trademark for "Fanomenon," in which JYP Entertainment applied for the trademark rights and later transferred half of the rights to the government.
According to Bae, however, it still remains unclear why that course of action had been taken by JYP Entertainment in the first place.
This has led to her claim that Park, who leads the project for public interest, had rather sought personal gains through preferential treatment by the government.
Park "must appear to explain to the public whether this involves preferential treatment ... as many fear," Bae wrote. "The public detests unfairness above all else."
Bae added that she would also corroborate Park's claim during the parliamentary audit that he had almost not been paid while chairing the presidential commission.
Bae is the member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee at the National Assembly.
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