Mnet's 'Idol School' Chief Producer Kim Tae Eun, who was handed over to trial on charges of obstruction and fraud, pleaded not guilty of such charges in court.

According to Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, following allegations of electoral fraud in Produce X 101 that resulted in a lawsuit, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also included Idol School in their investigation. On October 3, 2019, a trainee of Idol School alleged anonymously that only 3-4 trainees, out of 4,000 applicants, had auditioned to appear on the show. In an interview with MBC, a trainee alleged that the contestants were only given clothes appropriate for the summer and had to wear them in cold weather throughout their six-month training period. In addition to that, they were cut off from outside communication, were only allowed to buy daily necessities once a month, and were not given enough food to eat.

Lee Hae-in's father alleged through her fansite that CJ ENM suggested during her audition that she sign with their subsidiary agency to ensure that she would be able to debut after elimination, and she had done so out of fear of not being accepted into Idol School. However, after being eliminated, CJ ENM did not follow up, and she was unable to sign contracts with other agencies. In response, CJ ENM issued an apology.

Along with Produce X 101's vote-rigging controversy, MBC broadcast a feature on PD Note on October 15, 2019. Several trainees anonymously claimed that their living quarters had poor ventilation, and some girls developed rashes from dust. The trainees also claimed that they were so malnourished some of them did not menstruate or had periods lasting for two months.

On the morning of Nov. 9, a trial was held at the Seoul Central District Court on charges of obstruction of business against Chiel Producer Kim Tae-Eun, of 'Idol School' and former Mnet business manager, known only by the surname "Kim".

The two are accused of interfering with the work of broadcaster CJ ENM by manipulating viewer votes of "Idol School," which aired from July to September of 2017, and fraud against viewers who participated in text voting.

Kim Tae Eun's attorney admitted to all the prosecution's charges at the trial on the day but pleaded not guilty by saying, "While Kim Tae Eun is regretful of his actions with no intentions of making excuses, his actions do not legally constitute a crime."

In particular, the attorney of CP Kim emphasized the innocence of the alleged obstruction, saying, "The victim of interference of business is CJ ENM, but they are also the beneficiary of the fraud. It is a strange framework."

Chief Producer Kim's lawyer further continued by saying, "Votes that came in through text messaging were worth 10 percent of the general results while online votes were given no weight. But because of the low viewership ratings and poor viewer participation rates, the results were subject to lean heavily with just family or acquaintance votes. As less distinctive contestants unexpectedly received higher ranks due to this phenomenon, there was pressure that viewership ratings would further drop and the program would fall to pieces. In turn, the weight of online votes were adjusted to be worth 5 percent without notice to viewers, and rankings were partially manipulated."

Kim Tae Eun's lawyer further denied the charges by claiming that "tallying up votes and ranking contestants are a part of the producer's individual responsibilities and therefore hard to categorize as an interference of business." He added, "It was for the well-being of the firm. In certain cases, an individual may be at fault if acting for the good of a company negatively affects a third party. But in this situation, it seems like an overinterpretation of the charge of obstruction of business."

As for Mr. "Kim," who was put on trial on the same charges, their lawyer stated, "The indictment is for conspiring with Kim Tae Eun. But since no such conspiracy took place, 'Kim' will be pleading not guilty. Even if the charge is acknowledged, only consequences related to being an accessory will be reasonable."

Meanwhile, producers Ahn Joon Young and Kim Yong Bum recently received prison sentences for manipulating the votes of all four seasons of the "Produce 101" series. Ahn Joon Young has appealed his sentence.

Idol School is a 2017 reality girl group survival show on Mnet. It is a program that aims to form a 9-member girl group out of 41 female participants, training them in singing and dancing in the span of 11 weeks.

While branded as being similar to another Mnet survival program, Produce 101, the show differs from its participants, voting system, number of winners that will form the final group, and how they would treat the eliminated contestants. They may still be able to debut in the 'normal class' in the future if they choose to take the offer to continue studying in a different class off-campus under less public scrutiny.

The show premiered on July 13, 2017, with the final episode on September 29, 2017. The new group is called Fromis 9, meaning "From Idol School", but pronounced similar to "Promise" in Korean, and the final line means the never-ending possibilities and the promising and prosperous road ahead after graduation that would last forever. The new group members will be trained and release albums through Pledis Entertainment, while their activities were managed by Stone Music Entertainment as a joint venture with CJ E&M.

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Written By Ishani Sarkar