The agreement between Attrakt and FIFTY FIFTY members, which the court decided to refer to mediation, was not reached.
On August 9th, the Civil Conciliation Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Park Beom Seok) proceeded with a mediation for the injunction to suspend exclusive contracts filed by all FIFTY FIFTY members against their agency Attrakt.
On that day, the mothers of members Saena and Aran, as well as Attrakt’s board of directors, reportedly conducted a private mediation for about 2 hours, but an agreement was not reached. All members of FIFTY FIFTY were absent.
Attrakt’s representative explained, “Although the adjustment wasn’t made, the court recommended that the parties meet by August 16th to have an honest talk and have an opportunity to clear up misunderstandings. We still haven’t been able to contact the members, but the agency’s position is the same. We said that if there’s a misunderstanding such as settlement, let’s return to the company and resolve it through dialogue. If FIFTY FIFTY returns, we’ll do our best to bring FIFTY FIFTY back to its old state with full support.
FIFTY FIFTY, which debuted in November last year, entered Billboard’s main single chart “Hot 100” with the song “Cupid” after 4 months of debut and received attention from fans around the world.
However, on June 26th, Attrakt’s CEO Jeon Hong Joon claimed, “It turns out that both an outsourcing company and Warner Music Korea are involved in the recent incident in which external forces attempted to lure FIFTY FIFTY members with illegal intentions.” The dispute between Attrakt, FIFTY FIFTY and The Givers began.
Warner Music Korea, which CEO Jeon Hong Joon pointed out as an external force, stated that it was “groundless”. The Givers (headed by CEO Ahn Sung Il) also announced their position, “We will take legal action against the false accusations made by Attrakt’s CEO Jeon Hong Joon and the continuous spread of misinformation through the media.“
On June 28th, FIFTY FIFTY members made an official statement through their legal representative Barun Law Firm, “The four members filed an application for the suspension of the exclusive contract with the Seoul Central District Court on June 19th through their legal representative, and the trial is currently underway.”
On July 5th, the 50th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court held an interrogation date for the injunction to suspend the validity of exclusive contracts filed against Attrakt by FIFTY FIFTY. FIFTY FIFTY claimed that they could no longer continue exclusive contracts due to Attrakt’s violation of the obligation to provide settlement data transparently and faithfully, violation of the members’ physical and mental health care obligations and lack of support for entertainment activities.
On the other hand, Attrakt refuted, “The members raise doubts about Attrakt’s ability, but we invested approximately 8 billion won. We poured all of Attrakt’s assets and even borrowed funds from the CEO’s mother. It is excessive to make claims based on speculations that ignore the fact that we invested a significant amount of money, around 8 billion won, and to say that we have no ability.“
On July 7th, Attrakt filed an additional criminal complaint against The Givers, saying, “While organizing the acquisition and transfer documents, Attrakt discovered an embezzlement case conducted by The Givers without prior consultation with our company. Upon verification, we confirmed that The Givers had forged false service contracts for embezzlement.“
Source: Wikitree
