Agency refutes B.A.P claims

TS Entertainment on Friday refuted accusations by the K-pop boy band B.A.P that they were working under a “slave contract.”

“The artists have not been mistreated, and there are no unfair clauses in the contract,” the label said in a press release, countering the boy band’s allegations.

The response comes two days after the rookie K-pop singers filed a lawsuit against their agency, demanding the termination of their exclusive contracts. All six members of B.A.P ― Yongguk, Himchan, Daehyun, Youngjae, Jongup and Zelo ― submitted legal documents to the Seoul Western District Court on Wednesday. The lawsuit aims to nullify the exclusive contracts they signed with the agency in March 2011, prior to their debut.

The idols alleged that they sued the company to end a “slave contract” that only benefits the label. They took issue with the unreasonably long seven-year contract, intrusion of privacy, exploitation of basic rights and unjust distribution of profit from their work.

The group claimed that, since their debut in January 2012, each member has earned 18 million won ($16,000), though TS Entertainment made about 10 billion won through B.A.P’s activities in the K-pop scene.

B.A.P debuted in 2012 with the single “Warrior.” Their second Japanese single, “One Shot,” released in October 2013, topped Billboard’s World Albums Chart in February 2014.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)