The parents of KARA’s Nicole, Jiyoung, and Seungyeon held a press conference with their lawyers, Landmark, at 3 PM KST on January 20th. The members were not present.
The parents began by declaring that they wanted “a KARA of five members” and that the members genuinely wanted “a KARA of five members” as well. Although there are legal issues between the members and their agency, the parents were adamant about making clear that the members wanted to continue as a group.
The parents stated, “The priority right now are KARA’s promotions. The agency itself is the next problem. The basic job of a management agency is to support an artist’s activities. An artist is not subordinate to the company.”
Representatives of the three members of KARA stated, “We want the full support of a management company that will allow KARA to express their full potential. The very foundation of an entertainment management company is trust and professionalism. The kind of relationship the members want with their company is one of trust and cooperation. We’ve reported many times that the company lacks both elements.”
They continued, “This controversy is a problem between the members and their agency, not one between each other. There is no discord between the members, but DSP Media continues to contact each of the members in an effort to divide them. We genuinely hope that they will act with character for the members.”
When asked about the possibility of the girls returning to DSP, Hong replied, “There is a possibility, but like we’ve said numerous times, it’s only possible once the problems as revealed by the members and their parents are fixed. ”
On Hara’s decision to cancel her termination, he replied, “From what I know, she has a strong attachment to the five and wanted teamwork.”
A reporter asked, “What do you have to say about your previous claim of the members receiving 1% of their income?” Hong replied, “I do not have the exact documents so I cannot verify that for you.”
Another asked, “What do you think about the public believing Nicole’s mother is the cause of all this?“ Hong replied, “Not only Nicole’s mother, but the rest of their parents could not find a compromise with DSP, which is why they sought legal help.”
When asked for further details on the “lack of professionalism” he mentioned earlier, Hong repied, “Details will be released later. I believe the fact that the situation has even reached this point is a big error on their end.”
Source: Newsen via Nate, Seoul NTN via Nate
Core Contents CEO wants the Kara members gone?
The recent Kara controversy has many people upset, not only the fans but also many people who work in the industry. Mr. Kim Kwang Soo, the CEO of Core Contents Media who produced many famous groups such as T-ara, Seeya, Jo Sungmo, and SG Wannabe, raised his voice of concern much higher than others; he wants Seungyeon, Nicole and Jiyoung out of the industry… permanently.
In a phone interview with Daily Sports, he stated, “I asked the Korean Entertainment Producers Association (KEPA) to take heavy measures against Kara. I believe that if the three members left the group to join another management company, then they should not be allowed to come back to music industry in the future. All 300 members of the association must stop the three members from breaking Kara up.”
He continued, “It must have taken a great deal of the company’s passion and love to get the group up to their current level, and it breaks my heart to see it all crumbled overnight. If the quality of management was the problem, then they should get back with the company and solve it through discussions. They could also ask KEPA to intervene. Simply leaving the group like they did doesn’t solve any problems, it just creates more.”
He finished by saying, “Many artists and producers that were seniors to them spent a lot of time and effort to create a market for Korean music in Japan. Kara made all those efforts by them turn into nothing by carelessly stopping their Japanese promotions. The members must have gone through a tough time, there is no doubt; but I still hope that they would first go back to the company and then solve the problem.”
Mr. Kim is a big name in the Korean music industry, and seeing him speak out at this level shows that the management companies are quite upset, and at the same time, nervous about this fiasco. This must especially be the case as this is the second time that a major idol group has gone through something like this recently. Perhaps the CEOs want to set an example to other idol members who dream of such rebellion… but at the cost of DSP’s most valuable group.
Source: Naver
credit : allkpop
Further details regarding KARA’s decision to terminate their exclusive contracts with DSP Media have been revealed through TV Report, Park Gyuri’s mother, and representatives of DSP Media.
