Is Lee Seung-gi a Minus Singer? "That Can't Be True," Advice from a Senior

Conflict Between Lee Seung-gi and Hook Over Music Revenue Settlement... Will the Truth Be Revealed in Court?

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] The conflict between Lee Seung-gi and Hook Entertainment (Hook) over the 'music revenue settlement' is expected to escalate to the courts. On the 16th, lawyer Son Su-ho appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and said, "Lee Seung-gi's side notified the company of the termination of the exclusive contract, and the next day the company shut down Lee Seung-gi's homepage related to the company," predicting that the conflict between the two sides would be difficult to resolve amicably.

Lawyer Son explained, "If company funds were used at will, it could constitute embezzlement in the course of business, and if the amount of profit is large, the Special Economic Crimes Act rather than general criminal law could apply, resulting in a heavier sentence." He added, "If they intended not to settle the revenue but deceived by pretending they would and actually embezzled that amount, it could also constitute fraud, and a civil dispute is also anticipated."

Lee Seung-gi, who had not known the details of his music revenue settlements for 18 years since his debut, became aware of the issue due to a mistake by a management team employee. Lawyer Son said, "(Because a management team employee delivered it) Lee Seung-gi saw the details of the music-related revenue and told a senior in the music industry, 'I am no longer a minus singer,' and when the senior was surprised and said, 'You couldn't have been in the red,' Lee Seung-gi realized something was wrong and sent a certified letter to the company," he explained.

Actor and singer Lee Seung-gi. Photo by Hook Entertainment·Yonhap News

From the beginning of his debut, Lee Seung-gi often asked about the music revenue settlements, but each time the company replied, "You are a minus singer, and your fans don't buy albums well." They said that because the activity costs exceeded album and music sales revenue, there was no money to settle. Lawyer Son said, "According to a media report, data from the five years when the most hit songs like 'Noona Ne My Girl' were released disappeared, and excluding that period, the sales for the remaining period were 9.6 billion won."

Lawyer Son said, "Lee Seung-gi's side is considering filing a lawsuit after legal review," and added, "On the other hand, Hook claims that after the exclusive contract ended last year and during the renewal, they mutually confirmed the settlement details and terminated the creditor-debtor relationship, and that they also signed an agreement at that time."

However, as internal whistleblowing emerged, suspicions against Hook have intensified. According to lawyer Son, a former Hook employee, Mr. A, refuted Hook's claim that "it is not true that music revenue was never settled," saying, "It is true that it was never paid even once."

At Lee Seung-gi's request to disclose the music revenue details, Mr. A organized the settlement statements, revealing that the revenue for just two years from two representative songs amounted to 1.1 billion won. Lawyer Son explained, "As soon as the calculation started and such a large amount appeared, the CEO called employee A and ordered him to stop, halting the preparation," Mr. A revealed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.