Korea Management Federation “We Hope NewJeans’ Dispute With Their Company Is Resolved Smoothly”
On Dec 3rd, the Korea Management Federation issued an official statement, saying, “The pop culture and arts industry is built on mutual trust, with exclusive contracts between artists and agencies being respected by both parties. This foundation has been established through decades of consideration and trust between artists and entertainment companies. Therefore, a problem arising does not automatically fulfill the conditions for contract termination. NewJeans’ current position appears to disregard or lack any intention of pursuing mutual efforts necessary to maintain the contract from the outset.”
The Korea Management Federation continued, “Our legal system fundamentally protects established contracts, addressing disputes by determining liability in the event of termination. The principle here is to safeguard the contract until its complete dissolution. Thus, NewJeans’ claim for contract termination is baseless. Unilateral termination claims that undermine the validity of a contract must be approached with great caution, as they could severely damage the trust that underpins exclusive contracts.”
They emphasized, “In the pop culture and arts industry, particularly regarding pop singers, our system has long operated under a ‘pre-investment and post-recovery’ model. Once a company makes an initial investment, it inevitably becomes the weaker party in the exclusive contract. Especially for companies that nurture new talents through investment, protecting and maintaining contracts until profits exceed investments is the top priority. Current laws, however, lack measures to consider the company’s position. If a contract is maliciously terminated, the only recourse is to file for damages, with no means to enforce contract maintenance. Approaches like the current one from NewJeans risk shaking the foundation of the pop culture and arts industry and must be seen as highly problematic.”
They concluded, “We sincerely hope NewJeans retracts their current stance and engages in dialogue with their company. We genuinely wish for the dispute to be resolved smoothly and pray it does not escalate to the worst-case scenario.”
Meanwhile, on Nov 28th, NewJeans held an emergency press conference, 15 days after sending a content certification letter to ADOR on Nov 13th, outlining their demands. They declared the contract termination effective at midnight on Nov 29th, citing that “ADOR lacks both the will and capability to protect NewJeans“.
Source: Daum
