EXO's Baekhyun says he will launch new music company

K-pop

Published: 09 Aug. 2023, 11:03 Updated: 10 Aug. 2023, 19:43

EXO's Baekhyun says he will launch new music company

Baekhyun, a member of boy band EXO [NEWS1]

Baekhyun of boy band EXO took a 13 billion won ($9.9 million) loan to establish his own music company, the singer said Tuesday in an Instagram live session, addressing the rumors regarding himself.

An online post on Monday claimed that Baekhyun borrowed the money under the name of a newly-founded entertainment company, One Signature, where he is a board member to list the company.

The company was established on May 31 by a man named Kang Chan-yi, who is also the company's CEO.

The loan was made with a penthouse in Hannam-dong, central Seoul, as collateral. The house is owned by a woman surnamed Cha, who is the owner of a construction company and also a board member at Big Planet Made, an entertainment company. MC Mong, the producer accused of trying to lure EXO members out of SM Entertainment, was also a director at Big Planet Made until last October.

The online post has been taken down as of Tuesday afternoon.

"It's impossible to list a company with loaned money," Baekhyun said in an Instagram live session on Tuesday morning.

"The reason I took the loan was meant to be a promise to myself."

Baekhyun, a member of boy band EXO along with his bandmate Xiumin behind him, at the Times Square shopping mall in western Seoul on July 25 [NEWS1]

Baekhyun said that he did take the loan, but only because he was planning on establishing his own company, and he wanted to take the money as a symbol that he needs to work hard to achieve his dream.

Cha let him use her house as collateral because their families have been close since childhood, according to Baekhyun.

"We are not in an inappropriate relationship," he said. "It's true that [Cha] and MC Mong had helped me a lot, but only because I had come across so many new things, and I needed guidance."

Baekhyun will be establishing his own company separate from One Signature but remain with SM Entertainment and his band EXO, he said.

"I plan to run my own company, and [current agency] SM Entertainment also gave me positive feedback," he said. "The conflict [with the agency] made me more resolute that I want to walk the path of a producer, which had always been in the back of my mind. I really want to become a producer, but I don't know how, so I asked around a lot."

Baekhyun, along with his bandmates Xiumin and Chen, had filed for an injunction on his exclusive contract with SM Entertainment in June, claiming that the company mistreated them by not properly disclosing payment data and forcing excessively long periods of contract terms.

Their complaints came on June 1, just a day after One Signature was established.

The three members and SM Entertainment came to a settlement three weeks later.

Baekhyun debuted in 2012 as a member of EXO and began his solo career in 2019 with "City Lights."

To find out more about Baekhyun, visit https://celebconfirmed.com/

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]