A Seoul court suspended the exclusive contract between EXO-CBX and INB100, citing unpaid settlements and a broken trust relationship.
September/15/2026 18:47
The effectiveness of the exclusive contract between EXO’s Chen and the unit EXO-CBX formed by Baekhyun and Xiumin and their agency INB100 has been suspended. The Civil Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-hoon) today (the 15th) granted the provisional injunction request filed by EXO-CBX against INB100 to suspend the effectiveness of the exclusive contract. As a result, the exclusive contract between EXO-CBX and INB100 will have its effect suspended until the first-instance judgment is handed down. In addition, INB100 must not contract with third parties such as broadcasters against EXO-CBX’s will, and acts that require EXO-CBX to carry out entertainment activities or interfere with their independent entertainment activities are prohibited. The court stated, “If profits from EXO-CBX’s entertainment activities were generated, INB100 had an obligation under the contract to pay settlement money, but it has not done so until now,” and judged that “the mutual relationship of trust has collapsed due to reasons attributable to INB100.” It further said, “The basic relationship of trust that is the foundation of the contract has collapsed, and it is now difficult to maintain a normal exclusive relationship. If the main case regarding the effectiveness of the contract becomes prolonged, EXO-CBX’s independent entertainment activities during the remaining contract period will be greatly restricted,” and judged that “beyond the mere economic aspect of the contractual relationship, there is a risk of severely infringing even constitutional fundamental rights such as EXO-CBX’s freedom of occupational choice and freedom of activity.” Prior to this, in March, EXO-CBX notified the INB100 side of the termination of the exclusive contract on the grounds of unpaid contract fees and settlement money, etc. However, because INB100 did not comply with this, they filed a lawsuit seeking confirmation of the nonexistence of the effectiveness of the exclusive contract and applied for a provisional injunction to suspend the effectiveness of the exclusive contract. INB100 did not attend the provisional injunction hearing held on the 7th and did not submit separate materials, etc., and did not respond at all. At present, the first oral argument date for the main lawsuit has not been designated. INB100 is a label established by Baekhyun and became a label under One Hundred Label led by CEO Cha Ga-won. CEO Cha Ga-won was arrested and indicted last month on charges of fraud on a scale of 30 billion won (about 3 billion yen). Artists belonging to One Hundred and its subsidiary labels have been notifying the termination of exclusive contracts one after another. So far, Lee Seung-gi, Lee Mu-jin, THE BOYZ, VIVIZ, and BE'O have been claiming unpaid settlement money and other issues and are in a state of notifying the termination of their exclusive contracts. ・EXO Baekhyun, more serious damage than Lee Seung-gi? Alleged fraud on the scale of 63 billion won from CEO Cha Ga-won... YouTuber claims ・EXO Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen demand contract termination from agency... claim contract violations such as unpaid settlements ・SM provisionally seizes EXO Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Chen’s assets... total 2.6 billion won
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