[OSEN=최나영 기자] After Han Seung-yeon, Jung Nicole, and Kang Ji-young of the girl group KARA, excluding Park Gyuri and Goo Hara, informed the media on the 19th that they had notified their current agency of their decision to separate, they issued another statement through Landmark Law Firm explaining how their current agency, DSP Media, had repeatedly betrayed the members’ trust. Goo Hara, who initially planned to participate in the legal action, decided to remain with the agency following discussions with the company on the 19th.

◆ Full Statement

After DSP’s management was replaced in March 2010(following CEO Lee Ho-yeon’s incapacitation), inexperienced executives began managing KARA. As a result, proper entertainment planning was not carried out, and trust between the agency and the members gradually deteriorated.

- Concerns Regarding the Absence of the CEO

The current CEO of DSP Media is the wife of CEO Lee Ho-yeon. She had no previous experience in entertainment planning or management. By prioritizing the company’s position and interests without considering the members’ potential for growth or their circumstances, she failed to establish a relationship of trust with them.

- Japanese Contract Disguised as Japanese Artist Registration Documents

The legal representatives of the members who issued the termination notice said that the agency deceived them into signing an exclusive contract by claiming it was a Japanese artist registration document. DSP “misrepresented the Japanese-language ‘exclusive contract’ to the members and their parents as ‘Japanese artist registration documents,’ causing them to sign without knowing that it was an exclusive contract related to their activities in Japan. After signing, they requested copies, but the request was denied on the grounds that the documents could not be released externally.

- Agency Entered into Various Japanese Contracts Without Authorization

The CEO of DSP JAPAN, which oversees KARA’s activities in Japan, also serves as the CEO of the current agency. The CEO arbitrarily established an unfair distribution system under which a portion of the revenue generated in Japan was first deducted as a commission for DSP JAPAN, after which the remaining amount was divided between the agency and KARA. This ultimately allowed the same CEO to deduct a portion of the revenue twice without justification through nominal transactions between two companies, unfairly violating KARA’s rights under the exclusive contract.

- Conflict Involving an Online Shopping Mall

KARA-YA, an online shopping mall for which three members(Gyuri, Hara, and Ji-young) work as models, is headed by the CEO of DSP Media, while members of the CEO’s family occupy management positions. This clearly demonstrates that the agency is using the members solely for its own benefit.

KARA-YA also created controversy by photographing the three members wearing clothing printed with the words “BEST FUCKIN FIVE” and posting the photographs on the online shopping mall, drawing strong protests from fans. Despite the fact that one of the members was a minor, the company damaged the members’ honor and self-esteem. This was an extremely irresponsible act that prioritized only the agency’s profits without any regard for the artists’ interests or reputations.