Five music organizations representing K-pop have criticized the independent actions of the group New Jeans and called for the enactment of an ‘Anti-Tampering Act’.

On the 19th, the five organizations, including the Korea Management Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the Korea Recording Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association, unanimously stated in an appeal, “We earnestly request the National Assembly and the government to provide policy support to eradicate tampering (preliminary contact and pre-exclusive contract acts), which is the main cause of conflict that has recently driven the K-pop industry into crisis.

Regarding the recent independent actions of New Jeans, each organization stated, “Instead of specific parties attempting to resolve issues or disputes that should be resolved privately through negotiations or legal procedures between the parties, attempts to resolve issues through public opinion wars and unilateral declarations are spreading like a trend.” Criticized.

After declaring the termination of their exclusive contract with their agency Adore last November due to breach of contract, New Jeans is claiming that they will change their team name to ‘NJZ. On the other hand, Adore has filed an injunction to preserve the status of the agency and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts, as well as a lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract, claiming that their exclusive contract with the members is valid until 2029.

The five organizations drew the line, saying, “We are not discussing the dispute between a specific agency and an artist,” but emphasized that “We are only trying to make known how fatal a blow the K-pop industry is taking when a dispute between private parties is unilaterally announced by one side and becomes a topic of controversy, and we are trying to find the root cause of such disputes and resolve them.”

They also expressed concern that all participants in K-pop will be harmed due to related laws that do not take the industry as a whole into consideration. Also, Newjins and Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Adore, appealed that institutional support measures should be prepared for the ‘tampering suspicions’, which are considered the ‘if’, the unfiltered public opinion war surrounding them.

“There is also a need to awaken the artists themselves to a sense of alertness through various institutional devices. In the case of Newjins, who is currently working independently without legally terminating her contract with her agency, she recently announced a new stage name and openly announced ‘that she has a new agent’. If contracts are not legally protected and are terminated by a unilateral declaration, the K-pop industry will lose its foundation for survival.”


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.