The agency of group BAE173, Pocketdol Studio, has refuted JTBC's 'Project 7' policy that prohibits external activities for the group.
On the 10th, Yang Tae-jung, a lawyer from the law firm Gwangya representing Pocketdol Studio, expressed regret over the statement from Uncore, which announced legal action regarding the contract violations of a specific agency. He stated, “The 'Project 7' team, which has been with BAE173 for five years, signed a contract allowing concurrent activities related to the program, but suddenly changed their words after the final members were selected, which raises concerns and deep disappointment.”
On the same day, Uncore, which manages the debut team of JTBC's 'Project 7', Close Your Eyes, released an official statement claiming, “All participants and their agencies were fully aware that if a participant was selected as a final member of the project group, they could not engage in activities outside the project group without prior approval from Uncore.”
They also stated, “A specific agency has pursued domestic and international events that contradict the terms of the participation contract after signing it, and furthermore, they are unilaterally claiming to conduct individual group activities alongside the project group Close Your Eyes, causing significant harm not only to the artist in question but also to other members.” They warned that “Uncore will take all legal actions, as the intentional obstruction of activities by a specific agency constitutes a breach of contract and unfair competition.”
Lawyer Yang mentioned this and stated, “Uncore's claims are not true.” He continued, “At the request of the production team, we sent our artists and trainees to participate in JTBC's audition program 'Project 7', and among them, BAE173's Jimin (Jeon Min-wook) and trainee Sakurada Kenshin were selected for the debut team. While participating, we drafted a participation contract with the production team stating that if the final selection was confirmed, we would conduct concurrent activities.”
He added, “The participation contract for 'Project 7' specifies that if participation was already confirmed before signing the contract and this fact was notified to the 'production company' at the time of signing, it would be an exception. Furthermore, the 'participant' must prioritize commercial activities under the management contract signed according to the previous clause over other activities during the 36-month activity period, and if there are other contracts already confirmed before signing the management contract, they must notify the 'management company' in advance, and they must inform the 'management company' of their schedule in advance to avoid conflicts between activities as a final debut team and other activities.”
According to lawyer Yang, everyone involved, including the artists participating in 'Project 7' and the production team, was aware of the possibility of concurrent activities. He added, “We shared all scheduled contracts, including BAE173's album release and overseas tours, with the 'Project 7' production team for schedule coordination as per the participation contract.”
He continued, “However, after the final debut team was decided, the 'Project 7' production team sent a management contract from Uncore stating that concurrent activities were not possible. Since there were many coordination issues, we could not sign the management contract, and under those circumstances, our members Jimin and Sakurada Kenshin proceeded with overseas schedules as part of the 'Project 7' debut team.” He explained, “In this situation, Uncore blocked contact between us and our artists and even stated that they could not disclose the location of their accommodation. We expressed our desire to contact them multiple times to ascertain their whereabouts, but our requests were continuously ignored. Especially since we are also acting as the guardian for the minor Sakurada Kenshin in Korea, we filed a missing person report with the police on the 8th to check if they were safe.”
Lawyer Yang stated, “While they induced participation by claiming that concurrent activities were possible, they changed their words to say that concurrent activities were not possible once the debut team was selected. I want to ask who the specific agency is that is intentionally obstructing activities. If they continue to deny this matter, we are willing to disclose the contract and the emails exchanged.” He added, “We strongly condemn the behavior of JTBC's 'Project 7' and plan to take all legal actions.”
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
Full Statement from Pocketdol Studio
Hello. This is Yang Tae-jung, the legal representative of Pocketdol Studio from the law firm Gwangya.
We express our regret over the statement from Uncore, which announced legal action regarding the contract violations of a specific agency. The 'Project 7' team, which has been with BAE173 for five years, signed a contract allowing concurrent activities related to the program, but suddenly changed their words after the final members were selected, which raises concerns and deep disappointment.
Uncore claims in their statement, “All participants and their agencies were fully aware that if a participant was selected as a final member of the project group, they could not engage in activities outside the project group without prior approval from Uncore.”
At the same time, they stated, “However, a specific agency has pursued domestic and international events that contradict the terms of the participation contract after signing it, and furthermore, they are unilaterally claiming to conduct individual group activities alongside the project group Close Your Eyes, causing significant harm not only to the artist in question but also to other members.”
These claims from Uncore are not true. We sent our artists and trainees to participate in JTBC's audition program 'Project 7' at the request of the production team, and among them, BAE173's Jimin (Jeon Min-wook) and trainee Sakurada Kenshin were selected for the debut team. While participating, we drafted a participation contract with the production team stating that if the final selection was confirmed, we would conduct concurrent activities.
The participation contract for 'Project 7' specifies that if participation was already confirmed before signing the contract and this fact was notified to the 'production company' at the time of signing, it would be an exception.
Furthermore, the 'participant' must prioritize commercial activities under the management contract signed according to the previous clause over other activities during the 36-month activity period, and if there are other contracts already confirmed before signing the management contract, they must notify the 'management company' in advance, and they must inform the 'management company' of their schedule in advance to avoid conflicts between activities as a final debut team and other activities.
Everyone involved, including the artists participating in 'Project 7' and the production team, was aware of the possibility of concurrent activities. Therefore, we shared all scheduled contracts, including BAE173's album release and overseas tours, with the 'Project 7' production team for schedule coordination as per the participation contract.
However, after the final debut team was decided, the 'Project 7' production team sent a management contract from Uncore stating that concurrent activities were not possible. Since there were many coordination issues, we could not sign the management contract, and under those circumstances, our members Jimin and Sakurada Kenshin proceeded with overseas schedules as part of the 'Project 7' debut team.
In this situation, Uncore blocked contact between us and our artists and even stated that they could not disclose the location of their accommodation. We expressed our desire to contact them multiple times to ascertain their whereabouts, but our requests were continuously ignored. Especially since we are also acting as the guardian for the minor Sakurada Kenshin in Korea, we filed a missing person report with the police on the 8th to check if they were safe.
During this process, Uncore lied to the police, claiming that the two were with their parents, and when the police verified this with the parents, they finally admitted that they were at the practice studio, demonstrating a breach of trust.
Uncore stated in their statement, “We will not tolerate the selfish actions of a specific agency. We warn that the intentional obstruction of activities by a specific agency constitutes a breach of contract and unfair competition, and we will take all legal actions.”
While they induced participation by claiming that concurrent activities were possible, they changed their words to say that concurrent activities were not possible once the debut team was selected. I want to ask who the specific agency is that is intentionally obstructing activities. If they continue to deny this matter, we are willing to disclose the contract and the emails exchanged.
We strongly condemn the behavior of JTBC's 'Project 7' and plan to take all legal actions.
Thank you.
