Remaining Loona members win injunction to suspend contracts

Girl group Loona [BLOCKBERRY CREATIVE]

The remaining five members of girl group Loona won a high court injunction to suspend their exclusive contracts with Blockberry Creative.

The Seoul High Court ruled in favor of Haseul, Yeojin, Yves, Olivia Hye and Gowon on Friday, allowing them to be free from the existing contracts while the injunction lasts.

The court overturned a lower court's decision to not grant them the injunction, noting the agency did not seek the members' written consent when signing contracts with their Japanese agency, Universal Music.

The decision allows all 12 members of Loona to part ways with Blockberry Creative, as long as the injunction is upheld.

The group's lead vocalist Chuu had her exclusive contract with the agency partially suspended back in March 2022, followed by Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry, who had their contracts suspended in January.

All of the cases are related to unfair contract terms.

The Seoul Northern District Court had previously ruled against the five members, citing that unlike the other four members — Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry — the five members had their exclusive contracts altered with the agency, which the court did not deem unfair enough to grant an injunction.

Chuu signed an exclusive contract with ATRP in April, a year after establishing her management company, Chuu Inc., in 2022. She is currently continuing her activities under ATRP as a solo artist.

Heejin, Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry signed with Modhaus in the same month, announcing that the quartet will be a part of a project called Artms, and most recently, Hyunjin and ViVi signed with CTDENM in June, a new agency founded by the girl group's former company executive Eric Yun.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]