A SEoul Court rejected a claim for damages against a K-Pop idol, declaring that a private meeting could not be reasons for termination of the contract.
The case provided for a member without the name of a group of four -members boys, indicated as “A”, who made his debut at the relatively late age of 28 years after a first attempt to debut. On January 8, 2023, he met a woman through friends during an evening outside and spent the night together.
Just a week later, his agency presented him with a “debt memorandum” who asks to take responsibility for any losses related to the alleged scandal. The terms included the coverage of all the production and promotion costs of the albums, contractual penalties and even a clause that allows the agency to request payment from its family if it could not pay.
Hoping to stay in the group, a signed document – just to be removed from the group and make the contract terminate two days later. The agency therefore sued him for ₩ 200 million KRW (about $ 145,000 USD), citing a violation of his “duty to maintain dignity” as an idol.
However, the central district court of Soul established that the consensual law did not constitute a criminal offense, nor did it become public through media coverage, which means that it could not be considered a violation of the contract. The Court also canceled the debt memorandum, labeling it an “unfair legal act” pursuant to the Korean law.
The judge observed that the circumstances of A – older than most idols and desperate for his second possibility – left him vulnerable to exploitation by the Agency. The cause was rejected in full, with the ordered agency to cover all legal fees.
Sources: news of discussion on the law
