{"id":44553,"date":"2025-09-29T09:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/44553\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T09:42:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:42:10","slug":"contract-battles-and-broken-promises-k-pops-struggle-with-tampering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/44553\/","title":{"rendered":"Contract battles and broken promises: K-pop\u2019s struggle with \u2018tampering\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL \u2013 From Fifty Fifty and EXO-CBX to NewJeans, the ever-popular K-pop scene has recently been overshadowed by tampering disputes that insiders warn could shake the foundation of the industry.<\/p>\n

Tampering, in K-pop, refers to unauthorised contact by an outside party \u2013 typically a rival agency or producer \u2013 with an artist still bound by an exclusive contract.<\/p>\n

While such cases were sometimes overlooked in the past, the massive investments required to launch an idol group, and the increased rewards that come with the industry\u2019s growth, have made a quiet settlement an increasingly tall order.<\/p>\n

The most high-profile case erupted with <\/p>\n

girl group Fifty Fifty<\/p>\n

<\/a>, who rose to global fame in 2023 with their Billboard Hot 100 hit Cupid.<\/p>\n

But in June that year, the group shocked the industry by filing for an injunction to suspend its members\u2019 contracts with their agency, Attrakt. <\/p>\n

The agency responded by accusing \u201cexternal forces\u201d of trying to poach the members, raising suspicions of tampering. <\/p>\n

Those said to be behind the alleged attempt included none other than The Givers CEO Ahn Sung-il, who produced Cupid, along with two others.<\/p>\n

The Seoul Central District Court ultimately dismissed the injunction, ruling that it was difficult to conclude that Attrakt had violated its payment obligations or failed in its duty of care for the members\u2019 health and that Attrakt\u2019s termination of its contract with The Givers did not amount to a breach of exclusivity. The members appealed but lost again.<\/p>\n

Fifty Fifty member Keena later withdrew her appeal and returned to Attrakt, while the agency terminated its contracts with Saena, Aran and Sio. <\/p>\n

Attrakt has since filed a suit for damages worth 13 billion won (S$11.9 million) against 12 defendants, including the three former members, their parents and executives at The Givers.<\/p>\n

The company also filed criminal complaints against Mr Ahn for alleged embezzlement and forgery.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, the three former members signed with Massive E&C, a subsidiary label under global entertainment company IOK Company. <\/p>\n

In February 2025, the group, now rebranded as Ablume, reportedly reached out directly to Mr Ahn to produce their new music \u2013 and he accepted.<\/p>\n

Another high-profile case involved EXO members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin, known collectively as EXO-CBX, who notified SM Entertainment in 2023 that they were terminating their contracts, citing a lack of transparency in profit settlements and unfair long-term extensions.<\/p>\n

In January 2024, Baekhyun formally launched his independent label INB100. <\/p>\n

Just months later, in May, INB100 became a subsidiary of One Hundred, co-founded by singer MC Mong and p_Arc Group chairman Cha Ga-won. <\/p>\n

Both MC Mong and Mr Cha had already been accused by SM Entertainment of being behind the EXO-CBX dispute, fuelling allegations of indirect tampering.<\/p>\n

In a statement released on June 10, 2023, SM Entertainment claimed: \u201cMC Mong and Cha have long approached several artists still under valid contracts with SM. CBX then began nitpicking to invalidate the legally binding renewals.\u201d<\/p>\n

SM Entertainment said it nonetheless accommodated the trio\u2019s request to pursue independent activities, but added: \u201cAs has now become clear, EXO-CBX\u2019s INB100 is no longer independently run but a subsidiary of MC Mong and Cha\u2019s company. Today\u2019s press conference proves what we already suspected: Tampering with CBX is now undeniable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the feud, CBX remains under contract with SM for EXO group activities and is preparing for a full-group comeback later in 2025.<\/p>\n

The most recent and perhaps most explosive tampering allegations involve <\/p>\n

girl group NewJeans<\/p>\n

<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The dispute centres on claims that former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin attempted to orchestrate the group\u2019s independence from Hybe, Ador\u2019s parent company, by drafting legal notices to terminate their contracts.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, NewJeans\u2019 legal team sent Ador a certified letter citing alleged breaches of contract and threatening termination within 14 days. <\/p>\n

Soon after, NewJeans declared that its members\u2019 contracts with Ador had been nullified and began pursuing independent activities. <\/p>\n

Ador, however, countered by filing a lawsuit asserting that the contracts remained valid, while also seeking an injunction to block the group\u2019s activities until a final ruling. The court partly granted the request, prohibiting activities without Ador\u2019s prior approval.<\/p>\n

Two mediation attempts between Ador and NewJeans failed at the Seoul Central District Court. The court is now set to deliver a ruling on Oct 30 on whether the contracts remain valid.<\/p>\n

The key issue is whether NewJeans\u2019 grounds for termination stand. <\/p>\n

The group argues that Mr Min\u2019s ouster destroyed the foundation of trust, justifying a contract break-up. Ador counters that it has fulfilled all contractual obligations and that no legitimate grounds exist for a loss of trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cK-pop\u2019s sustainable growth depends on everyone honoring their promises. No one can unilaterally declare a contract void before the court\u2019s judgment,\u201d said five major music industry associations at a press conference in Seoul in February.<\/p>\n

Producing an idol group can cost anywhere from one billion won to over 10 billion won before a debut album is even released \u2013 with no guarantee of success. If artists are lured away before the investments are recouped, it undermines agencies\u2019 basic business model.<\/p>\n

Because each idol is considered a vital asset \u2013 agencies sometimes even register their stage names as intellectual property \u2013 tampering is also seen as tantamount to corporate technology theft.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf artists can unilaterally ignore the law and break contracts whenever they wish, who would risk investing 10 billion or 100 billion won to create a K-pop group?\u201d a K-pop agency official said. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor the sustainability of K-pop, tampering must never be tolerated, and those who fail to honour contracts must face legal accountability.\u201d THE KOREA HERALD\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL \u2013 From Fifty Fifty and EXO-CBX to NewJeans, the ever-popular K-pop scene has recently been overshadowed by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-44553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}