Hanmaeyeon: "NewJeans must withdraw contract termination... an act that shakes the foundation"

The recent escalation of the dispute between ADOR and NewJeans is causing various adverse effects on our popular culture and arts industry. Regarding this matter, our federation expresses concerns about the group NewJeans, the issues surrounding their exclusive contract, the public’s perspective, and the sense of disillusionment felt by industry professionals. We issue this statement from the standpoint of those working in the popular culture and arts industry, hoping for a renewed leap forward for our industry.

Our popular culture and arts industry respects exclusive contracts made between artists and agencies based on mutual trust. This foundation is built on decades of consideration and trust between artists and entertainment agencies, meaning that the mere occurrence of a problem does not constitute a complete condition for contract termination.

However, the current stance of NewJeans, which disregards all procedures, can only be interpreted as having no intention or consideration for the mutual efforts necessary to maintain the contract from the beginning. Our laws fundamentally protect established contracts and handle disputes by assigning responsibility when contract termination is reached. This implies that until a contract is fully terminated, the contract is protected, making NewJeans’ current claim of contract termination groundless.

Moreover, the claim of contract invalidation through unilateral termination must be approached with great caution, as it can severely damage the overall trust in exclusive contracts. Artists and entertainment agencies are not simply in an employment relationship but operate in a mutually cooperative partnership. Under an exclusive contract, artists must do their best to demonstrate their talents and cooperate with the agency’s activities, while agencies must support various activities to maximize the artists’ talents. When disputes arise, the assertion that exclusive contracts can be terminated by declaration alone results in fatal consequences for South Korea’s popular culture and arts industry, which involves long-term contracts and investments starting from trainee periods. If anyone can terminate a contract simply by declaration, how can the validity of exclusive contracts be guaranteed? Who would invest based on such uncertain contracts? From this perspective, contract termination must be approached very carefully, and the issue should be discussed within the fundamental premise of maintaining and supplementing contracts.

Finally, our industry, especially in popular music, has operated under the principle of ‘pre-investment and post-recovery’ from the past to the present. Companies inevitably become the weaker party in exclusive contracts because they invest first. Particularly, companies that have nurtured new talents through investment face the greatest challenge of protecting these artists as much as possible and maintaining contracts to generate profits until they produce returns exceeding the investment. In other words, when disputes arise between artists and agencies, the position is inevitably that of the ‘weaker party,’ hoping for the maintenance and preservation of exclusive contracts. However, current laws lack measures that consider the company’s position. If a contract is maliciously terminated, there are no means to maintain the contract other than ultimately claiming damages. From this perspective, the current approach taken by NewJeans is a very malicious method that could shake the foundation of our popular culture and arts industry.

Therefore, our federation hopes that NewJeans will withdraw their current stance and engage in dialogue with the company. We sincerely hope that this dispute will be resolved smoothly and earnestly pray that it does not escalate to the worst-case scenario.

Additionally, we have confirmed how significant the weaknesses are in current laws regarding stable contract maintenance. We hope that government ministries and related parties will discuss the industry’s long-term development from the ground up. For the continuous development of our popular culture and arts industry, KMF will not remain idle but will continue to monitor the situation closely and do its utmost to respond actively. Thank you.