The dispute between the members of the K-pop boy band EXO: Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen against their label, SM Entertainment continues as the three, collectively known for their subunit EXO-CBX, filed antitrust complaints over their "slave contracts."
In a statement on Monday released through their lawyer, Xiumin, Baekhyun, and Chen said to have filed a complaint against their agency over its act of abusing its "dominant position in business” before the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Korea’s “ministerial-level central administrative organization under the authority of the Prime Minister and also functions as a quasi-judicial body," for
This comes days since the three K-pop stars also terminated their exclusive contracts due to unfair long-term periods and for the failure of the company to provide them copies of the financial settlements.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen’s complaint addresses issues such as the duration of SM Entertainment contracts, as compared to those from other K-pop agencies, and how the company establishes the starting point for exclusive contracts.
Their lawyer Lee Jae-Hak, who is a member of the Lin law firm who is representing CBX, said they filed a complaint on June 4 with the FTC against SM Entertainment for abuse of trading position.
"This falls under Article 23 (Prohibition on Unfair Trade Practices) of Korea’s Monopoly Regulation And Fair Trade Act, which states that “no business entity shall do any of the following acts that are likely to hinder fair trade (hereinafter referred to as "unfair trade practices"), or require its affiliates or other business entities to do such act” by “making a transaction with a certain transaction partner unfairly taking advantage of its bargaining position," his statement to the press read.
Lee said the FTC already issued corrective orders against SM Entertainment in 2007 and 2011 regarding the long-term contracts but the company continued with this. Thus, they are requesting the FTC a thorough investigation into alleged SM Entertainment violations regarding exclusive contracts of stars belonging to the agency.
The lawyer firmly stated that Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen entered into unfair contracts with SM Entertainment as these did not reflect the corrective measures that were ordered by the FTC in the past.
He said calculating the end date of the exclusive contract from “the time of debut in entertainment activities” (not from the date of the exclusive contract signing) is an ultra-long-term exclusive contract that is determined by the agency's discretion.
In response to the claims, SM Entertainment changed its position but with a condition.
SM Entertainment, in a statement, said they have decided to provide a copy of the settlement data to the three under the premise that they and their agents will not use it for unfair purposes.
However, they rejected CBX's move to terminate their exclusive contracts.
