Korean police launched an investigation into a L’Occitane employee after they uploaded topless photos of a K-pop idol.
Mingyu, a rapper for Korean boy band Seventeen and L’Occitane’s Asia ambassador, was allegedly photographed by a staff member during a photoshoot for the French brand.
These were reportedly then posted to the employee’s personal Instagram account, breaching Korea’s Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
The law protects individuals against personal details and photographs being obtained and published online without their consent.
Mingyu, née Kim Min Gyu, was named as L'Occitane Asia Ambassador in May with the idol fronting the brand’s Almond Shower Oil.
L'Occitane Korea issued an apology on X, formerly Twitter, on 3 September following the incident.
It stated that the individual involved had been “removed from all duties” and “disciplinary action” had been enforced.
“We sincerely apologise for the recent incident involving the unauthorised release of photos from the L'Occitane Asia Ambassador campaign, which were improperly distributed on the personal social media account of one of our employees,” L’Occitane wrote in an X post.
“We acknowledge that there is no excuse for this breach and fully accept responsibility for what has occurred.
“We take this matter with the utmost seriousness, and we deeply regret the distress caused to the artist and all the fans. We extend our deepest apologies to them.”
L’Occitane Korea said that it will also issue “comprehensive and regular training” for all employees to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
“This program will emphasise the critical importance of respecting the copyrights, portrait rights, publicity rights and privacy of our brand ambassador,” L’Occitane Korea added in the post on X.
“We will ensure that every employee thoroughly understands and adheres to these principles, and we will approach this process with a strong sense of responsibility.”
Seventeen was formed by Pledis Entertainment, a South Korean entertainment company, in May 2015 and debuted with its EP 17 Carat.
Band members include S. Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino.
Cosmetics Business has contacted L’Occitane Korea for a comment.
(Photo Credit: TV Ten, Wiki Commons)
