Singer Lee Mu-jin, 25, filed a lawsuit to have the agency pay more than 2 billion won in unsettled payments and to terminate his exclusive contract.
According to the legal community on the 24th, Lee filed a lawsuit on the 16th with the Seoul Central District Court against Big Planet Made Enter, seeking confirmation of nonexistence of the effect of the exclusive contract and payment of unpaid settlement money.
Lee notified the agency on Mar. 27 this year of the termination of the exclusive contract, and the suit is said to be intended to confirm the legality of that notice.
Earlier, the application for a provisional injunction to suspend the effect of the exclusive contract filed by Lee's side was granted that day, nullifying the effect of the exclusive contract until the lawsuit result comes out.
Lee argues that the agency violated its duty of trust by failing to pay more than 2.010 billion won in settlement money from the second to the fourth quarter last year and the first-quarter settlement this year.
He also says that recent cuts to other management support have left staff unpaid, making it difficult to trust the agency.
At the hearing on the application for a provisional injunction held on the 27th of last month, Big Planet Made Enter said, "We do not see the circumstances in which the settlement money was not paid as entirely the debtor's fault," adding, "If Lee wants suspension of the effect of the exclusive contract, we will accept it."
Big Planet Made Enter is a subsidiary of entertainment agency One Hundred Label, and the head of One Hundred Label is Cha Ga-won, who is under police investigation on fraud charges totaling 30 billion won.