Four out of the five members of popular Korean girl group Kara – i.e. Han Seungyeon, Nicole Jung, Goo Hara and Kang Jiyoung – have filed a lawsuit against DSP Media in order to terminate their exclusive contract with the company, stating that they have lost mutual trust with their agency.
According to a press release issued on Wednesday it’s said that the girls have “suffered inexplicable psychological pain” and “severe frustration” after being forced to carry out activities they did not want to and were insulted in character. The four girls then pointed out their “irreparable trust” in DSP as the largest issue, saying they were “used only as a tool for making money.”
DSP Media has revealed their side of the story and claimed that one of the members, Goo Hara, has pulled out of the lawsuit (Hara’s story is confirmed). The remaining trio has also released another statement elaborating the reasons for the legal action.
Here the statements:
The loss of faith in our company is what hurts us the most!
The members of Kara and DSP Media began to lose trust in one another ever since the change in DSP’s top management which occurred in March 2010. This is due to the fact that the members of the new management, who lacked professional knowledge, failed to provide proper management for Kara.
The current executive director of DSP Media is the wife of Mr. Lee Ho Yeon, the ex-director who is currently ill. She has never worked in the entertainment management industry before; and so far, she has only been concerned about DSP’s profits and the health of DSP. She failed to build a trusting relationship with the members of Kara as she disregarded situations and the growth potential of the members.
The contract turned into a registration form!
The members of Kara signed the contract for their work in Japan under the knowledge that it was a simple registration form. The members and the parents were told that the contract, which was in Japanese, was a form for simply registering as a music artist in Japan. This made them sign the contract without knowing that they were signing a contract, and when they asked for a copy of the contract after the fact, a DSP employee declined their request as the contract was not to be released outside of the company.
The company had no rights to make deals in Japan!
The executive director of DSP Japan, the company in charge of Kara’s work in Japan, is the same person as the original DSP executive director (wife of Lee Ho Yeon). The company removed part of the earnings as a share of DSP Japan, and then paid the members with a percentage of the remaining portion. This means that the same manager, who owns both companies, cut Kara’s share of the earnings through a transaction out of formality, which resulted in Kara getting taxed twice by the company. According to their contract with DSP, Kara members had their rights violated by this action.
Karaya is owned by the executive director and his family!
Karaya is an online clothing store for which three members of Kara (Gyuri, Hara and Jiyoung) work as models. It is owned by the current executive director of DSP Media, and other managerial positions are held by the director’s family members, which clearly shows that this is another scheme to profit from the Kara members.
Karaya also made the members wear clothing with the inappropriate line BEST FUCKIN FIVE on it then posted the photos on its website, which not only disregarded the reputation of the members, especially Jiyoung who is a minor, but also resulted in heavy complaints from Kara’s fans. This action was a clear display of how DSP disregards the reputation or profit of the artists and is only concerned about the profits of itself.
And perhaps most worrying for the fans, is what’s going to happen to the group leader Gyuri, the only member who has not joined the legal suit.
More on Allkpop here and here.
*Very sad for them, hope they can maintain their group (5 girls).......... KARA fighting! :)
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