Shinsegae Group has launched an investigation after allegations surfaced that an internal employee at Emart misappropriated dozens of gift certificates that NCT member Jaemin sent to fans as a White Day gift.
According to a report by Busan Ilbo on the 16th, Shinsegae Group is conducting an internal investigation into the Emart Gumi store where a large number of Shinsegae gift certificates (worth 100,000 KRW each) were exchanged, allegedly due to an employee’s wrongdoing.
The day before, at Emart Gumi, located in Gumi City, Gyeongbuk, gift certificates worth a total of 3 million KRW were exchanged before the store opened. These gift certificates were sent by NCT member Jaemin to fans through the paid subscription service ‘Bubble’ to celebrate White Day.
On that day, Jaemin distributed 30 gift certificates worth 100,000 KRW each to his fans. Some fans visited Emart stores at their respective opening times to exchange the mobile gift certificates for paper ones, but it was confirmed that all the gift certificates had already been exchanged at Emart Gumi before the official opening time of 10 AM.
There are suspicions that an internal employee at Emart Gumi exchanged the gift certificates before the store opened, leading some fans to protest to Shinsegae Group, which operates Emart.
In response, Shinsegae Group has begun an internal investigation and plans to take action based on the investigation’s results and work to prevent such incidents from reoccurring.
A representative from Shinsegae Group stated, “We are currently conducting an internal investigation into the circumstances and, depending on the findings, will take subsequent actions and strengthen management standards related to the issuance and exchange of gift certificates to prevent recurrence.”