Do we like them?

Do we like Hanni?

Our score: 7 out of 10. No harmful words or company found, a real charity gift, and one contested workplace claim; the record is thinner than for most.

Hanni is one fifth of NewJeans, the K-pop group that got caught in the middle of a very public fight between its producer and the giant label HYBE. She's an Australian in a Korean industry, and it shows up in the story: she has spoken of limited Korean, and commenters have mocked her for it. The sources I could open say little about her childhood, so this column is about the public chapter.

The story she's best known for is the hearing. In October 2024, aged 20, she told a South Korean parliamentary committee she'd been shunned by members of another HYBE-linked group, and alleged a manager told them to “ignore her as if you didn't see her”. ADOR's then chief executive said she personally believed Hanni, but noted no CCTV backed it up. Reports I couldn't open say a court later found the claim not sufficiently proven, so treat it as contested rather than settled.

On the harm check, I searched her name against LGBTQ+, women, climate and the usual culture-war topics and found nothing. No slide into grievance, no conspiracy talk, no campaigning against anyone's rights. Her projects are the group's releases through the label, with no sign of her keeping harmful company. That's a clean pass, with the honest caveat that she rarely comments on politics at all.

The recent news is a small one but telling. She sued two online commenters over insulting posts under an article about her testimony, and in July the Seoul Western District Court ordered each to pay 100,000 won (about $75). The court said critical opinion isn't unlawful in principle but the abusive language was. The abuse she copped is theirs to answer for, and it counts for nothing against her.

The real good stuff: in December 2024 all five members gave 100 million won to ChildFund Korea, in their own names rather than the group's. The money went to households where kids and teens care for sick, disabled or elderly family. It's a quiet, practical gift, and it came while the group was in the middle of a messy fight.

So, would we support her? Yes. She stood up in public, alone and young, in a second language, over how she says she was treated at work. One of her claims is contested, and the record on wider issues is thin, but nothing in it is harmful.