Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Following news that presumptive FANTASY BOYS center Yu Junwon would not be debuting with the group that the show spawned due to a contract dispute with agency PocketDol Studios, the show’s production company has sued him and he has lost the temporary injunction lawsuit.
======
As mentioned, a while back Phunky Studio filed a lawsuit against Yu Junwon for around 3 billion won in damages.
Phunky Studio told Newsen, “From the perspective of the company, damages occurred due to the contestant’s breach of contract, and the rights of the shareholders were also infringed.”
They added, “In the case of survival show participants, they generally appear on the premise of debuting. If they’re selected for the debut group, they’ll sign an annex agreement with the production company after the program ends. We prepared an annex agreement with Yoo Jun Won according to the provisions of the standard contract specified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. We also expressed our willingness to accept 13 additional demands from Yoo Jun Won, but he rejected even that.”
Okay, so as I figured, there was a contractual obligation for being on the show and making the final group. From what I understand, the crux of the issue is essentially Yu Junwon’s side saying PocketDol altered the terms of the contract by adding stuff on, while PocketDol is insisting that they offered a legal contract by the standards of the Fair Trade Commission.
Of course, legal doesn’t mean fair either (as has been explained elsewhere), and if there wasn’t an agreed upon contract beforehand or if any changes were indeed made, it seems it should be well within a person’s right to refuse to sign something that includes new terms.
——
Well … that sorta segues into the next part, which is that Yu Junwon’s application for a temporary injunction was rejected, and the idol will bear the costs of litigation.
The judge deemed that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that Funky Studio made unreasonable demands on Yu Junwon or that it damaged the trust between creditor and debtor to such an extent. Furthermore, the judge stated that most of the contract terms presented by Funky Studio to Yu Junwon were in accordance with the standard exclusive contract, and it is difficult to see the points raised by Yu Junwon as particularly unfair compared to the standard exclusive contract.
The terms of the contract were posted by Yu Junwon himself a few months back, and I still find it absurd that one can be forced into a contract with supplementary stipulations that weren’t revealed beforehand. Legally, though? I get the ruling. Since the contract fits the terms set by the Fair Trade Commission, it would likely have to be egregiously different from the industry norm for his lawsuit to work, and I think it’s somewhat telling of what those norms are that this wasn’t abnormal.
As I said, that’s perhaps different from how it should be, but what’s technically legal now is all that really matters for this, and it seems Yu Junwon will have an uphill battle in this lawsuit from here on out.
