  Over the past decade the use of the red clump (RC) as distance indicator has
increased in importance as this evolutionary phase is well populated and a good
local calibration exists.
  The absolute calibration of the RC in the $I$ and $K$ band is investigated
again based on the recently published revised Hipparcos parallaxes.
  A numerical model is developed that takes the various selection criteria and
the properties of the Hipparcos catalogue into account. The biases involved in
applying certain selections are estimated with this model.
  The absolute magnitudes that are found are $M_{\rm I} = -0.22 \pm 0.03$ and
$M_{\rm K} = -1.54 \pm 0.04$ (on the 2MASS system). The $I$-band value is in
good agreement with previous determinations, the $K$-band value is fainter than
previously quoted, and this seems to be related to a selection bias whereby
accurate $K$-magnitudes are only available for relatively few bright stars.
Applying population corrections to the absolute $K$ magnitude of RC stars in
clusters supports the fainter magnitude scale.
