K-Pop Industry Voices Concern Over NewJeans Dispute
Feb 19, 2025
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Five music-related organizations, including the Korea Management Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korean Drama Label Industry Association, the Korea Music Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association, announced their stance on the 19th to support policies to eradicate tampering.
The pop music organization said "For the sound and sustainable development of the K-pop industry, we hope that some agencies and artists will stop trying to fulfill their interests through groundless public opinion."
"I earnestly appeal to the National Assembly and the government to proceed with policy support to eradicate tamping, which is a major source of conflict. The bill should be revised after accurate fact-finding and sufficient consultation with officials, not public opinion," he said.
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Given that K-pop is an industry that receives a lot of attention, simple presentation of suspicions for public opinion alone has a large impact, he expressed concern that `it may be accepted as true without proper fact-finding, refutation, or criticism.'
Following Hani's appearance at the National Assembly, the proposed bill banning "artist harassment in the workplace" introduces regulations without understanding into the K-pop industry"If related bills are passed without the consideration of the entire industry, the entire K-pop industry will be shaken by the effects of frequent regulations" he said.
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The allegations of tampering, which are considered behind this public opinion battle, emphasized that "an act that can destroy an agency that has invested heavily over a long period of time and has taken all the risks of an artist's chances of success in an instant."
But for now, it's hard to prove the reality of the stealthy tamping situation"There is no separate legal system to protect the industry from tampering" he complained.
Pop music groups say the K-pop industry could be completely taken away by the involvement of large overseas capital"Estitutional support measures are essential to identify the true nature of the tampering act of stealing artists by stealing exclusive contracts and to create an atmosphere of sincere implementation of exclusive contracts."
The members of the Newzins recently claimed to be the NJZ and announced that there was a new agent, saying, "We need to raise awareness of the artist himself through a number of institutional devices.".
The following is a full text of the admission of popular music groups.
The Korea Entertainment Management Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the Korea Recording Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association are urging the National Assembly and the government to stop trying to fulfill their interests through public opinion for the sound and sustainable development of the popular culture and arts industry (hereinafter referred to as the "K-pop industry").
In order to resolve the issue, the bill should be revised after accurate fact verification and sufficient consultation with related parties, not public opinion.
In the past 10 months, attempts to resolve issues or disputes that need to be resolved privately by certain parties, such as press conferences and public opinion contests by former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin ("Former Representative Min"), attendance at the National Assembly by Newzins Hani, and activities by the group's readers, are spreading like a trend. In particular, the conflict between former representative Min and Newzins has continued to be slow to this day.
First of all, we are not discussing the dispute itself between a particular agency and artist. In the course of a dispute between private parties being unilaterally announced and controversial by either side, the K-pop industry is trying to find and resolve the root causes of these disputes.
Since K-pop is an industry that receives a lot of public attention, it can occupy portal sites, Internet communities, and SNS for a considerable period of time by simply presenting suspicions to attract public opinion. These contents may be accepted as facts without proper fact verification, refutation, or criticism. There are cases in which the National Assembly and government agencies misunderstand that the K-pop industry itself does not have the ability to self-purify and recognize it as a problem in the K-pop industry as a whole, and introduce various regulations.
We are not against regulation itself. However, there are issues of very different nature, such as settlement between the company and the artist and service provision time for teenagers, all of which can be individually preceded by sufficient discussion in the industry and establishment of guidelines for agreement and correction.
For example, a bill to ban artists from bullying in the workplace was proposed after Newgins Hani's attendance at a parliamentary audit in October 2024.
In the K-pop industry, artists must also be respected in all working environments. However, it is also worth recalling that at the time, there was a strong public criticism that 'K-pop artists were mobilized for the sake of publicity.
In order to come up with a more effective system, we sincerely ask you to listen to various voices in the industry, such as whether artists are workers based on legal grounds and the working environment of K-pop workers other than artists.
If related bills continue to be passed without industry-wide consideration, the problems of the parties will eventually shake the entire K-pop industry under the influence of frequent regulations, and the damage caused by the unpredictable regulatory environment will be intact for the entire participants supporting K-pop.
As you can see in the previous example, the K-pop industry is based on popularity of the public, so every issue related to a particular artist causes a lot of buzz and controversy. The more popular artists are, the more common the issues they raise are as a problem for the entire K-pop industry, and the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more they become, the more. Once regulations are introduced, they can have the effect of hindering the continued growth of the K-pop industry or shrinking the industry.
We appeal for legislation to prevent tampering in the music industry, such as the anti-leakage of technology in the semiconductor industry.
Last year's Newzins press conference triggered private disputes between artists and agencies to over-expose themselves to the media without filtering. Furthermore, there are cases in which independent activities are sought even before legal judgment on disputed matters is received. In particular, the press conferences and reader activities of artists representing K-pop are reaching a point where they affect public opinion formation and encourage confusion in the industry, putting the K-pop industry itself in crisis.
This situation should no longer be left unattended. Addressing the suspicion of 'tamping', which is considered a common aspect of unfiltered public opinion battles, should be prioritized.
Tamping is an act that can take down an agency that has solely been betting on the artist's future value and investing heavily over a long period of time, taking all the risks of an artist's chances of success. However, because tamping is so secretive, it is not only difficult to prove its true nature, but at this point, there is no separate legal system to protect the industry from tamping, so it is not easy to hold it accountable even if it is revealed.
Despite the recent flood of allegations of tamping covering the industry, the K-pop industry has been embroiled in public opinion without any institutional protection. It's time to sympathize with the sense of crisis that the K-pop industry could be seriously threatened by 'tamping', and to join forces to protect the industry.
If the tamping attempt makes a success story, the `entertainment management industry' that serves as the midwife of the K-pop industry will be completely destroyed. This is not just a problem among domestic operators, and the situation in which large overseas capital can be intervened and the K-pop industry can be completely taken away can also be a reality. The semiconductor industry alone does not have industrial spies that leak companies' core technologies and assets abroad. Production know-how and IP, which are the core capabilities of the K-pop industry, can be leaked and taken away.
After all, the key to preventing tampering is 'Deliberate Implementation of the Exclusive Agreement'. Given the importance of exclusive contracts in the industry, institutional support measures will be needed to identify the true nature of tamping and take out artists, just as the Industrial Technology Leak Prevention Act has established various institutional mechanisms to protect key national technologies such as the semiconductor industry.
It is also necessary to raise awareness of the artist himself through a number of institutional arrangements. In the case of Newzins, whose contract with the agency has not been legally terminated and is working independently, it has recently announced a new activity name, making it public that there is a new agent. If the contract is not legally protected and is broken by one declaration, the K-pop industry will lose its foundation for survival.
Now, I sincerely ask the National Assembly and the government not to think that disputes or controversies related to tamping are simply conflicts between industry stakeholders, but to recognize that it is a very serious risk to the K-pop industry, one of the key industries representing Korea.
So far, the K-pop industry has wisely overcome numerous challenges, such as the illegal download market in the early 2000s and the pandemic in the 2020s, and has used the crisis as an opportunity to grow. We sincerely appeal to the National Assembly, the government, and all walks of life to support K-pop, which is on the verge of collapse due to internal division, so that it can overcome the crisis through harmony and communication and leap forward into Korea's proud cultural industry, and we will do our best.
cf) The consultative body is an organization composed of non-profit corporations for the sound development of the K-pop industry, and the appeal is made for public interest purposes.
rightlight@sportschosun.com
