‘An approach like New Jeans‘ is a very malicious method that can shake the foundation of the popular culture and arts industry.’

Regarding the unprecedented ‘notice’ of the termination of the exclusive contract of the group New Jeans with their agency Adore, major domestic entertainment organizations have expressed deep concern and strongly criticized it.

The Korea Management Association, which has over 400 domestic entertainment agencies registered as members, is a representative example.

On the 3rd, the Korea Management Association released an official statement defining New Jeans’ series of actions, including declaring the termination of their exclusive contracts with their agencies at a late-night press conference, as actions that ‘disregarded all procedures’ and pointed out that “it can only be interpreted as either ‘not considering the mutual efforts necessary to maintain (exclusive) contracts or ‘no intention to do so’, and urged them to withdraw their previous position and resume dialogue with their agencies.

The Korea Management Association also expressed great concern that this New Jeans incident will be recorded in the history of domestic entertainment as a ‘wrong example’.

The union especially brought up the ‘invest first, then recover’ structure that involves long-term, large-scale investments starting from the trainee period, and in conjunction with this, “In the event of a dispute with the artist during the active period, the company has no choice but to hope to maintain and preserve the exclusive contract. Under a legal system that ‘takes absolutely no consideration’ for the company‘s position, in the end, in cases where a contract is maliciously terminated, the only way to maintain the contract is ‘claiming damages’, the reality is that, ultimately, there is no way to do anything to’ maintain the contract, lamenting the fact that.

Along with the unusual statement by the Korea Management Union, other influential organizations in the industry, such as the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, are expected to organize and announce their positions on the recent announcement of the termination of New Jeans’ exclusive contract soon. Just as the legal community is concerned about the ‘ineffectiveness’ of exclusive contracts, which are the core of capitalism and the foundation of the economic system, there is an atmosphere of taking this issue very seriously as another contracting party.

Meanwhile, New Jeans, who left for Japan for activities after declaring the termination of their exclusive contracts, returned to Korea through Gimpo International Airport on the afternoon of the 3rd. Many of the members were wearing sunglasses or masks, but some smiled or waved, showing a relatively relaxed attitude.


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com