Young reveals that she wants to nullify contract with Music K Entertainment.
By Anna Kim
Staff Writer
Hong Jin Young, a popular trot singer, took to Instagram and stated that she was filing a lawsuit to terminate her contract with her agency of 10 years, Music K Entertainment, on Aug. 23rd. She cited overworking and discrepancies in payment as major reasons.
Hong Jin Young stated, “I trusted the agency with loyalty in confidence. I carried out my work in silence without missing a single schedule. I would see some comments made online accusing me of being a gold digger or money hungry and hated myself for being gossiped like that. I wished I could have taken a break, but I always thought immersing myself in performing at multiple consecutive events a day, dozens of times a month was repaying my agency for taking me in when I was a trivial rookie.”
According to Hong, at the beginning of June when her health took a turn for the worse, she lost faith in the label. She had to undergo surgery for an abdominal infection and it was very difficult to carry out her schedule. She was in much pain, but the agency enforced her schedule. Nonetheless, they didn’t say a word of apology to her and were only consistent in excuses. There were many other things that were taking place in her name without her knowledge such as a dual contract with an advertiser that she didn’t know about. There were also countless omissions in the earnings allocations from events and advertisements. Finally, she decided she could not maintain a trusting relationship with them any longer.
Music K Entertainment responded to Hong Jing Young’s lawsuit for contract termination. According to them, Hong’s schedule was set up so that she could take off about 90 days for vacation per year, but she only rested for 52. The agency stated that Hong started to inexplicably cancel schedules stating that she had surgery without notifying them and was acting irrationally.
The agency said, “We have seen what Hong Jung Young uploaded online recently. We were in ongoing discussions with Hong to resolve mutual misunderstandings, so we cannot help but regret that Hong one-sidedly revealed her position through her Instagram post. Since her debut, we have always fulfilled our management duties by respecting Hong Jin Young’s opinions. Although the initial contract period had not yet expired and we were not legally bound, but we readily agreed to Hong’s request to renew the contract twice. We also increased her share of profits and accepted other conditions that Hong wanted every time we renewed the contract. We did so because loyalty to our artists is more than pecuniary interests.”
Hong Jin Young appointed two law firms, one of which is the biggest law firm in the country. Their keen confrontation is expected on a legal basis.
Meanwhile, Hong Jin Young debuted as a soloist in 2009 with the song Love Battery, which made the big time. She has been performing this song almost every day for the past 10 years, and it is also said that she even sings the song herself when she goes to karaoke.
Hong Jin Young debuted as a soloist in 2009 with the song Love Battery, which made the big time. <YouTube capture>
Hong Jin Young appointed two law firms, one of which is the biggest law firm in the country. Their keen confrontation is expected on a legal basis.
Hong Jin Young, a popular trot singer, files a lawsuit to terminate her contract with her agency Music K Entertainment.
