Two members chosen for the 'Under Fifteen' debut team filed a provisional injunction seeking to suspend the effectiveness of their exclusive contracts against their agency Crea Entertainment, and they expressed frustration at the rebuttal from the 'Under Fifteen' side.
On the 16th, Attorney No Jong-eon of Law Firm Jonja rebutted the official statement released by the producer of 'Under Fifteen' in an interview with OSEN.
That day Attorney No Jong-eon said, "Among the debut members there is a member with Southeast Asian nationality. If so, it is certainly true that they intended to go to Southeast Asia. The exclusive contract states that the contract period is 'for 24 months from the date of completion of the final broadcast of the program.' That is a system where, after the program's broadcast is completed, they debut as entertainers immediately."
He continued, "The planning intent of 'Under Fifteen' is a 'project to discover K-pop prodigies under age 15.' But if they say they never mentioned broadcasting in Southeast Asia or plans to promote in Southeast Asia, then where are the members supposed to promote? Are they supposed to go to South America to promote? It sounds like wordplay," and he added, "Basically, K-pop projects are mostly broadcast simultaneously in Korea."
In addition, Attorney No emphasized, "And we never used the term 'forced' regarding Southeast Asian activities in our press release. I want to make that clear."
Earlier, Attorney No Jong-eon, representing the two debut members of 'Under Fifteen,' filed the provisional injunction against Crea Entertainment and then made the filing public. The two members said, "This provisional injunction arises from a desperate feeling that the time has come for serious reflection across our society and K-pop as a whole on protecting the personal rights and right to education of children and adolescents, the children's dreams of K-pop, and their relationship with capitalism, beyond a simple contract dispute with a single entertainment agency."
The two members said, "When domestic broadcasting and activities became impossible, the agency, in order to recoup the huge production losses, began making impossible promises and pressuring for dormitory stays and even planning overseas debuts and activities including in Southeast Asia, without any consultation about the children's futures or dreams. The series of processes currently underway without the children's consent or consultation seriously infringe on the basic rights of children guaranteed by the Constitution and the Act on the Development of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry. It is also an unfair and unethical act to shift the responsibility for a failed project entirely onto the minors."
They argued that the exclusive contract they signed is an unfair contract that ▲imposes excessive penalty clauses only on the child entertainers and ▲includes multiple unfair provisions allowing the agency to unilaterally transfer the contract to a third party, so that the entire contract can no longer reasonably maintain its effect.
In response to this, Crea Studio said it had never mentioned activities in Southeast Asia or similar regions.
Crea Studio said, "The two 'Under Fifteen' participants had repeatedly refused multiple meeting requests from the production team, and about a month ago they notified the production team by message of their unilateral withdrawal from the team. After that, the two participants did not join any related schedules such as dormitory stays."
It added, "After the broadcast was canceled, the 'Under Fifteen' production team made every effort to find a way to release the program to reduce the children's disappointment even a little, but were repeatedly blocked. In particular, the final debut team of 'Under Fifteen,' formed to create global idols, includes members who came from abroad to realize their dreams as well as Korean members. Accordingly, the production team sought at the production company level ways to broadcast in those members' countries as well for the foreign members. It was an effort to broadcast for the global members, and the production team never mentioned activities in Southeast Asia or the like."
Meanwhile, 'Under Fifteen' faced controversy over sexualizing children ahead of its scheduled first broadcast on MBN on March 31, and its airing was canceled. Afterwards it tried to rename itself 'Star Is Born' and planned to air through KBS JAPAN, but considering the serious public opinion at home and abroad, KBS JAPAN decided not to schedule the program, leaving it stalled.
[Photo] Crea Studio, broadcast capture
[OSEN]