Five domestic music organizations urged the preparation of legislation to eradicate pre-contract contact (tampering), calling it a crisis in the K-pop industry following NewJeans' (NJZ) departure.
The parents of NewJeans members expressed regret and claimed that Bang Si-hyuk, the chairman of HYBE, was obstructing NewJeans' U.S. performance.
On the 19th, the Korea Management Federation, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the Korea Recording Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association issued a joint appeal, stating, "In order for the popular culture and arts industry (K-pop industry) to develop healthily and sustainably, we earnestly urge some agencies and artists to stop their unfounded attempts to influence public opinion for their own benefit, and we appeal to the National Assembly and the government to provide policy support to eliminate tampering, which is a major cause of conflict."
They emphasized that they were not trying to discuss the disputes between specific agencies and artists. The domestic music organizations stated, "We aim to inform how much the K-pop industry has been severely impacted during the process where private disputes between parties are unilaterally announced and become controversial, and we seek to address the fundamental causes of such disputes."
They explained, "Recently, attempts by certain parties to solve issues or disputes privately, such as the press conferences and public campaigns by Min Hee-jin, former CEO of ADOR, and NewJeans' Hanni's attendance at the National Assembly and the group's independent activities, are becoming more common as they try to resolve matters through public opinion and unilateral declarations rather than through discussions or legal procedures."
They assessed that misunderstandings have arisen in the National Assembly and government agencies that "the K-pop industry has no self-correcting ability," leading to examples of regulations being introduced as issues for the entire K-pop industry.
The music organizations noted that if exclusive contracts are not legally protected and can be terminated unilaterally, the K-pop industry would lose its foundation for existence.
The music organizations stated, "Considering the importance of exclusive contracts in the industry, just as various institutional mechanisms have been established to protect critical national technologies like the semiconductor industry through the Industrial Technology Leakage Prevention Act, it is essential to establish institutional support that clarifies the reality of tampering that undermines exclusive contracts and fosters a commitment to fulfilling these contracts sincerely."
They added, "There is also a need to awaken the artists' sense of vigilance through various institutional mechanisms," and noted that "In the case of NewJeans, which is currently engaged in independent activities without a lawful termination of its contract with the current agency, they recently announced a new activity name and publicly announced that there is a 'new agent.'"
NewJeans stated that they expressed "regret" regarding the joint appeal from the five domestic music organizations.
The parents of NewJeans members stated through their official account on the 19th, "We saw that the five organizations, including the Korea Entertainment Management Federation, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the Korea Recording Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association, distributed an appeal through the media," adding, "It is truly regrettable that such statements undermine the fairness of the trial by establishing unconfirmed facts as confirmed, as they surely know that the preliminary injunction and main trial dates have not even begun."
The parents of NewJeans expressed, "We hope that the five organizations will stop their attempts to sway public opinion that solely represents the position and claims of specific agencies," emphasizing that, "For the sustainable growth of the K-pop industry, the issues with specific agencies treating affiliated artists merely as tools for making money, whom they can replace at any time, must be corrected, and this will be resolved through a court ruling."
The parents of NewJeans also claimed that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk attempted to cancel NewJeans’ U.S. performances.
They continued, "Recently, we heard from representatives at ComplexCon who are assisting with performance preparations that Chairman Bang Si-hyuk of HYBE personally called U.S. officials to pressure them into canceling NJZ members' performances. I felt extremely displeased and angry, thinking that HYBE regards the members merely as tools for making money and that instead of supporting them, they only intend to obstruct and cancel their activities."
The parents of NewJeans stated, "ADOR has also reportedly attempted to interfere in various ways," and added, "When we sent a complaint email last April, we requested a response from Chairman Bang, but we have yet to receive any reply."
They further stated, "If you have so much to say, please call us instead of going elsewhere," questioning, "I do not understand why the chairman of HYBE is directly intervening in disputes with ADOR, and do you think you can maintain that ADOR and HYBE are separate entities under these circumstances?"
In response, ADOR refuted by stating, "We have never pressured anyone to cancel NewJeans' Hong Kong performance."
ADOR confirmed, "Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has also had no contact regarding NewJeans' Hong Kong performance," and added, "ADOR requested that the organizers use the official team name 'NewJeans' just as we requested from domestic media and asked them to conduct the performance through ADOR based on the exclusive contract."