SM Entertainment has officially addressed the termination of exclusive contracts for EXO members Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin.

On the morning of June 1, SM Entertainment announced through an official statement that "As we are concentrating our efforts to prepare for a new leap forward, we have confirmed that external forces are making unreasonable proposals to our artists, delivering false information, incorrect legal evaluations, and suggesting that it's fine to ignore their exclusive contract with us and sign a contract with them."

SM continued, "These external forces are engaging in illegal acts to lure our artists into violating their exclusive contract or signing dual contracts, even though they do not truly care about the artists, spreading rumors, defamation, and flattery to lead our artists into making wrong decisions."

They further reported, "Not only are these external forces enticing our artists to violate their valid exclusive contract with us, but they are also confirmed to be luring other artists in our company to violate their exclusive contracts or sign dual contracts through the involved artists."

SM expressed their firm stance, "We will not ignore the moves of those who pursue only the greed of money, and will take all possible legal measures. We will strive to meet the high expectations of the fans who truly love our artists."

On the same day, Attorney Lee Jae Hak of law firm Lin, who is representing Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin, revealed through an official statement that they have notified the termination of their exclusive contract due to SM's refusal to provide transparent settlement data and grounds for settlement.

The attorney stated, "The artists have been receiving their settlement money solely based on SM's explanation and the one-sided documents prepared by SM without concrete and objective evidences." He added, "Despite the difference in opinion with SM, we are being forced to pursue legal actions, but we will do our best to find a wise solution and resolve the dispute well," drawing attention.

Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen debuted as members of EXO in 2012 and have grown as representative groups of SM.

The following is the full statement from SM Entertainment.

Hello, this is SM Entertainment.

At the beginning of this year, we presented a new vision as a global leading entertainment company through the SM 3.0 strategy, and we are relentlessly working to meet the high expectations of the fans by continuously improving corporate governance in accordance with it.

However, as we are concentrating our efforts to prepare for a new leap, external forces have been confirmed to be making unreasonable proposals to our artists, delivering false information and incorrect legal evaluations, and suggesting that it's fine to ignore their exclusive contract with us and sign a contract with them. These external forces are committing illegal acts, luring our artists into violating their exclusive contracts or signing dual contracts, despite not truly caring about the artists, spreading rumors, defamation, and flattery.

Not only are these external forces enticing our artists to violate their valid exclusive contract with us, but they are also confirmed to be luring other artists in our company to violate their exclusive contracts or sign dual contracts through the involved artists.

The attempts of these external forces are clear illegal acts, intending to cause conflicts between us and our artists, and between artists themselves, and also to undermine the existing teams. This, which fundamentally destroys the trust of the fans who are sending endless love and support, is an unacceptable attempt and a clear illegal act that should not be tolerated for the healthy future of the K-pop industry.

Therefore, we will not ignore the moves of those who are solely pursuing the greed of money and show no interest in the future of the artist or their legitimate legal rights, and we will take all possible legal measures. Otherwise, the reputation and image of our artists and the future of promising artists may be seriously damaged by the actions of those who are only looking after their own interests.

We will strive to meet the high expectations of the fans who truly love our artists by taking a firm stand against the illegal activities of these unscrupulous external forces.

Thank you.

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