Korea’s rising sportwear model Andar on Sunday distanced itself from its founder couple because the agency sought to stop the disgraced former leaders from tarnishing its public fame.
Andar’s transfer got here after an appeals panel of the Seoul Western District Courtroom on Thursday upheld the one-year jail sentence of Oh Dae-hyun, former Andar director and husband of the agency’s founder and former CEO, Shin Ae-ryun, by dismissing Oh’s enchantment. The identical court docket had sentenced Oh final 12 months for violating the nation’s Nationwide Safety Act by collaborating with a North Korean hacker to function an unlawful non-public server for community avid gamers in 2014 to 2015.
Andar CEO Kong Sung-ah stated in a press release that she desires her firm to erase any hint of Oh and Shin, who resigned collectively in 2021. She added that the corporate has been seeing improved efficiency and rising public belief and goals to guard its fame by distancing the model from the controversial couple’s actions.
Actress Jun Ji-hyun fashions for Andar on this promotional picture. Courtesy of Andar
“That is to clarify that we in 2021 fully dismissed Oh and Shin from our group and entrusted our firm to skilled entrepreneurship beneath Echo Advertising that now owns Andar’s complete shares,” Kong stated. “Following Echo Advertising’s acquisition, we turned surplus shortly and noticed the steepest development we’ve by no means seen earlier than.”
Kong added that the couple doesn’t personal a single share of Andar, dismissing rumors.
Andar on Friday reported third-quarter gross sales of 77.4 billion received ($53 million), up seven p.c from a 12 months earlier and marking a document for the corporate’s third quarter. Nonetheless, its working revenue fell to 9.6 billion received from the earlier 12 months, reflecting investments to broaden into the U.S. market and the opening of its third retailer in Singapore.
Kong stated Oh and Shin had left the corporate due to their problematic conduct. Oh, in violation of the legislation, contacted the North Korean hacker and paid him 24 million received to bypass Lineage’s firewall and function an unlawful recreation. He additionally requested the hacker to assault different non-public servers to make his enterprise extra worthwhile and had a historical past of fraud, assault and defamation.
Shin’s management was additionally tainted by a 2020 sexual harassment case involving a feminine worker. The worker claimed she was harassed by male colleagues and, as an alternative of being protected, was fired by the corporate for “incompetence.” Shin issued a written assertion defending the corporate, which drew widespread public backlash.
