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Members of the group EXO Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen have notified their agency SM Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as SM) of the termination of their exclusive contracts.

On the 1st, Lee Jae-hak, a lawyer at the law firm Lin Jae-hak, who is the legal representative of Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen, said, "(The three members) sent proof of contents to SM seven times in total from March 21 to recently, and through this, they repeatedly requested a copy of the transparent settlement data and the basis for the settlement."

The three members alleged that "they have only believed SM's explanation of the settlement amount that is settled each time, and have received the settlement money based only on the materials unilaterally prepared by SM without concrete and objective evidence," and that "during the 12- or 13-year exclusive contract period, SM did not properly provide the settlement data and settlement basis to the artists."

"Despite multiple requests through the agent's lawyers, SM has already defaulted on its obligation to provide data, resulting in the reason for termination of the existing exclusive contract," he said, adding, "Despite the artists' earnest request to provide a copy of the settlement materials by May 31 through proof of content, they have not provided a basis for settlement, so they have been forced to notify SM that they will terminate the existing exclusive contract as of today, June 1."

In addition, "SM has repeatedly committed extremely unfair tyranny by signing long-term contracts with artists for more than 12~13 years, and then insisting on a long-term contract period of at least 17 or 18 years by forcing them to sign a follow-up exclusive contract again when the same period is not enough," he said, adding, "Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen are seriously considering filing a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission for the act of signing such a long-term exclusive contract and subsequent exclusive contract."

The three members said, "We apologize for the inconvenience this incident has caused to our fans. Due to the difference in position with SM, we are unavoidably pursuing legal action, but we will do our best to resolve the dispute well by finding a wise way so that the fans do not have too many concerns."

EXO, the representative group of Hallyu that debuted in 2012 and led the K-pop scene with hits such as "Roar," "Love Shot," and "Tempo," was planning to release a new album this year after its members completed their military service. However, due to a sudden dispute between the three members and an exclusive contract, the comeback was given a red light.

After the three members' positions came out, SM immediately issued a press release and launched a rebuttal.

SM said, "At a time when we are concentrating our efforts to prepare for a new leap forward, we are seeing external forces approaching our artists and delivering false information/false legal evaluations, ignoring our exclusive contract and making nonsensical proposals such as that it is okay to sign a contract with them. Even though they have no genuine intention to care about the artist, they are committing illegal acts by inducing our artists to make wrong judgments and violate their exclusive contracts or sign double contracts through rumors, slander, and false accusations."

"It has been confirmed that these external forces are not only inducing our artists to violate their valid exclusive contracts with us, but also inducing other artists of our company to violate their exclusive contracts or enter into double contracts."

"These attempts by external forces are clearly illegal, and they are hiding their intentions to disrupt the existing team by fomenting conflict between us and our artists, and between artists and artists. This is not only an unacceptable attempt to fundamentally destroy the trust of the fans who give them infinite love and support, but it is also an illegal act that should never be forgiven for the sake of the healthy future of the entire K-pop industry."

In response, SM said, "We will not allow the movements of those who pursue the greed of money without any concern for the future of artists or their legitimate legal rights, and we will take all possible legal measures," adding, "We will make efforts to show that we live up to the high expectations of fans who truly love artists by responding strongly to the illegal acts of impure external forces."

Kang Seon-ae
(SBS Entertainment News Reporter Kang Seon-ae
)