MANILA, Philippines – EXO members Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin have notified SM Entertainment of the termination of their exclusive contracts on Thursday, June 1. 

The three members delivered their official statement through their legal representative and lawyer Lee Jae-hak of the law firm LIN, according to a Soompi report.

Lee said that from March 21, the three EXO members had sent certification of contents for a total of seven times: “Through this, they requested a copy of the transparent settlement report and basis for settlement.”

However, according to Lee, SM Entertainment stated that they cannot provide the artists copies of said reports. “If SM had accurately paid the settlement to the artists, there would have been no reason why they could not provide the settlement reports and settlement basis,” the firm said.

The lawyer shared that SM Entertainment is attempting to have their artists carry exclusive contracts that will be valid for at least 17 to 18 years. 

The statement explained that the agency makes their artists sign contracts for 12 to 13 years at debut, and pushes their talents to sign subsequent exclusive contracts again, which leads to long-term contracts that could even go beyond 17 to 18 years. “SM has been repeatedly committing unjust use of power such as this,” he said. 

“Regarding this, the artists feel that SM is using their superior position to force artists to sign so-called slave contracts that span over almost 20 years including their training periods,” the statement read. 

The legal representative then listed the various injustices that Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin felt during their stay under SM Entertainment. A full translation can be found in this Soompi article. 

The statement continued that the problem might not just be a problem for the three EXO members “but a potential issue for all artists under SM,” They added that Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin are “sincerely considering filming a complaint to the Korea Fair Trade Commision” for the subsequent exclusive contract. 

The statement ended with the members’ apology to the fans, and assurance that they will “do [their] best to find a wise way to resolve this dispute so that we do not cause fans too much concern.”

The three also admitted that they are “very frightened and fearful” of this circumstance, but asked for the fans’ continued interest. 

n response, SM Entertainment has released a statement to address the allegations, claiming that a third party is involved in their rift with the artists.

Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin made their debut with EXO in April 2012. They also formed the EXO-CBX sub-unit in 2016. All three members also had their solo releases. – Rappler.com