A South Korean entertainment management agency struck back at its Chinese K-pop hip-hop duo Tasty over a contract nullification suit Friday, claiming the artists' arguments are groundless.
The first pleading between Woollim Entertainment, the defendant and subsidiary of S.M. C&C, and the two Chinese rappers, the plaintiffs, took place on Thursday. S.M. C&C is a listed music label of S.M. Entertainment, the country's second-largest talent agency by market capital.
The trial opened about six months after Darong and Xiaorong, the 28-year-old Chinese twin artists of the group, left Woollim Entertainment in July 2015 and notified the South Korean agency of the upcoming legal battle in September.
The two matters of legal contention are the defendant's alleged default of paying dividends and alienation of human rights.
Woollim Entertainment told the local press that it has neither mistreated the Chinese artists nor inappropriately avoided payment, countering the allegations waged by Tasty's legal representatives in Thursday's opening trial.
"Regarding (Tasty's argument on not) paying them their share of the profit, there was no profit to divide at all to begin with,"
the company contended. "In fact, the management suffered financial losses because the group left before reaching the break-even point.
There was no mistreatment either. Their pleadings are full of groundless claims."
According to the plaintiffs' attorneys, the Chinese vocalists were not allocated due payment and suffered labor discrimination that other members of the agency did not experience.
To South Korean fans, Tasty's departure from S.M. Entertainment came in the blink of an eye.
Only six days after halting its activities in Korea -- without consulting Woollim Entertainment, its exclusive contractor according to legal papers -- the Chinese duo promoted their upcoming Chinese single album, set to be released on Sept. 26, 2015, in China.
In the Korean music scene, Tasty's popularity has been slow to rise. Since its debut in 2012, the hip-hop duo released four mini albums -- "Spectrum," "Spectacular," "Day'n Night" and "Addiction" -- but have not released any full-length albums.
Despite the band's small presence in the K-pop scene, its lawsuit immediately peaked the public's interest, since the cause and legal context of the case are almost the same as the case of Chinese singer Hankyung, former member of S.M.'s boy band Super Junior, who also goes by his Chinese name Hangeng. Hankyung won the suit against S.M. in the first trial but agreed to a settlement for unclear reasons.
Kris and Luhan, former members of EXO, another boy band of S.M., also filed lawsuits of the same sort in 2014. The trial is still ongoing between the two parties. (Yonhap)
