Former EXO member Luhan and record label SM Entertainment reportedly entered their first court-appointed mediation on December 16 at 2 p.m. at the Seoul Central District Court.
Neither the Chinese singer-actor nor the company's CEO Kim Young Min were present during the mediation, Daily Kpop News reports. It was attended by the legal representatives of both parties.
The mediation was finished in 30 minutes, with both parties unable to reach an agreement, as they only listened to the positions of both sides.
Allkpop reported that SM's legal representative stated, "It was a place for us to tell each other our position. The next mediation date has not been decided."
The second round of mediation will most likely be scheduled next year.
Luhan's contract-nullification lawsuit was filed against the record label in October, before the court ordered arbitration between the two parties last month. Soompi noted that while Chinese-Canadian and another former EXO member Wu Yifan failed to reach an agreement with the agency in his second round of mediation recently, it was very unlikely that Luhan would also reach a compromise.
Luhan has accused SM Entertainment of discrimination between EXO-K and EXO-M when it comes to their commercial projects. The singer-actor claimed, "The K team was supported by SM Entertainment and was very active, but in comparison, the M team was not very active and suffered from lack of funding. As a result, we had a very hard time."
After the artist's filing of lawsuit, SM Entertainment responded and compared it with Kris' filing back in May. "When you come with the same legal team and try to press the same charges upon us in the same method when there is no apparent reason for a lawsuit, it only appears as if the star [he] is ignoring all understanding with the company and those effected as soon as one gains fame to better ones own profit and fame," SM said in a statement.
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