Based on several failed court-ordered mediations between camps of EXO members Kris and Luhan and SM Entertainment, it looks like it's still a long way before these legal battles end. After February 6, singers Kris and Luhan will try to settle their contract disputes once more with their former talent agency on February 27.
The upcoming proceedings for Kris and Luhan's nullification of contract cases are their fifth and fourth trials respectively at the Seoul Central District Court. But apart from that these, their battles with SM go complex too as the multi-company also filed breach of contract lawsuits against them in China and Hong Kong early this month.
According to International Business Times, if it comes to a point that court-ordered mediations don't work for SM and ex EXO-M members anymore those will become standard civil proceedings. Those things will be a great disadvantage for the two singers as they need to cease any of their showbiz commitments. Currently, the two EXO former members enjoy big projects in China, including CCTV' Spring Festival Gala where they will both performing on February 18.
IBM also reported that it's possible that the two celebrities will join force to solidify their lawsuits against SM. As of now Kris and Luhan are separately settling their nullification of contract lawsuits filed in May and October, respectively.
Meantime, allKpop got Kris and Luhan's official statement against SM that was released via China media company Sina. In the said statement, the Beijing legal team of two singers mentioned their opposition on SM's unreasonable and unfair contracts with their talents.
"As a major Korean entertainment agency, SM took advantage of their prominent position by negotiating an unreasonable and unfair contract with the agency celebrities. Thus, SM received multiple penalties from the Fair Trade Commission Republic of Korea. Luhan and Kris made several requests for the improvement of SM's excessive promotions, health risk, and income distribution, but they were rejected and ignored, leaving them to take legal action," a part of Luhan and Kris's legal team's statement.
"SM is aware of Luhan's reasons for filing a lawsuit pertaining to his contract, but claimed, 'Without any justifiable reason, [Luhan] went against the faith and ethics of the contract and left EXO for his own profit,' in their statement. This is an attempt to harm Luhan's image."
The Legal team also mentioned the penalty of The Fair Trade Commission Republic of Korea on SM in 2013 when they hindered projects of JYJ, a Korean boy band of Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu. The team compared that case to SM's agenda when they filed cases in China and Hong Kong, as well as in disseminating official statement against their clients.
"Although Luhan and Kris tried to resolve the dispute through mediation multiple times, SM released a misleading and threatening statement, leaving Luhan and Kris no choice but to take legal action to protect their legal rights and interests," EXO former members' legal team shared.
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