Hankyung, Super Junior's only Chinese member in the 13 member group, has filed a lawsuit against the effects of his exclusive contract with the defendant SM Entertainment because of their unfair activity scheduling which has caused him gastritis and kidney illness.

Through Hankyung's legal representative, the lawsuit to terminate his exclusive contract was filed on the 21st with the Seoul District Court.

According to the litigation, Hankyung has not even been given a single rest day per week after debut. It has been said, "Because of the recent continuous overseas activities etc, it has almost been 2 years since he last rested, he has been rushing schedules (all this while)." "Due to contract obligations and heavy penalties, even during bad health, he was not to skip any scheduled activities."

Hankyung's side emphasized, "Because of these kind of health problems, (he) has continuously put forward requests to rest, but has always been rejected." They added, "Except for when they started their perfomances in 2006, at other times, he had to stay in Korea." "Through their manager, Hankyung requested from SM for leave to return to China to rest but he was rejected every single time."

Hankyung's side added, Hankyung's exclusive contract terms ▶SM was definitely in a more superior position signing on unfair terms in the contract ▶The contract would span 13 years (starting from the release of their first album) ▶Incorporated excessive damages and in terms of the contract, if he voided it, he would be blocked (from other activities) ▶Allocation of rights and obligations in the contract were significantly off-balanced ▶SM had the right to request Hankyung to be in any activity ▶Profit-splitting rights and provisions were also off-balance, hence the intiation of the lawsuit against SM to terminate his exclusive contract.

On the other hand, after Hankyung intiated litigation, SM stated their stand that "for the sake of Super Junior and Hankyung, they are in talks to resolve the problem".

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Edit2: The reason why Hankyung brought in the lawsuit against SM

These are 6 unfair points from Hankyung's exclusive contract with SM which are stated by Hankyung's side (not sure whether it's from his lawyer or his representative)


1. The contract has many provisions which are in SM's favor.

When the first contract was signed (January 2003) Hankyung was 18 then (underage) and being a Chinese person, he didn't know everything about Korean showbiz, so SM gave him a contract with the content that SM itself suggested.

Not only that, but also side agreements with SM after then (Febuary 2007 and December 2007) were only from SM, which means that Hankyung didn't have the chance to suggest provisions in his favor.



2. The period of the exclusive contract is 13 years, it is too long.

The first contract he signed stated that it will be ended 10 years after Super Junior's 1st album, but the second time it was modified it has been extended to 13 years. Super Junior's 1st album was released in December 2005, so the contract will be ended in December 2018 and Hankyung will be 35 then.

Moreover, if Hankyung does not take part in some activities because of his health or studies, the contract's period will be extended according to the situation, so it currently is 13 years on paper, but it could be longer in real life. This clause severely violates Hankyung's civil rights.



3. There is a clause stating that Hankyung will have to pay SM a large sum of money in case of breaking contract clauses or creating damages, thus this prevents Hankyung to cancel the contract itself, or some agreements on it.

If Hankyung wants to move to another company and continue his activities, he will have to pay SM threefold of the money that SM had invested to him and pay twofold for the loss of the remaining time of his contract.



4. The amount between Hankyung's rights and responsibilities stated in the contract are not the same.

Hankyung has to follow and attend all the schedule that SM gives him, he has to do/follow all SM's orders/intructions unconditionally, but he doesn't have a right to request for his contract to be revised.



5. SM has forced Hankyung to do some activities against his will.

During training time, if Hankyung was late, or absent, or didn't fulfill his duty, he would be fined 10,000 won (= USD 9 currently) for the 1st time, 20,000 won (= USD 17 currently) for the 2nd time, etc. After debut, if he was late or absent from his schedule, he would have to pay for all the damage; if he cuts the contacts with SM for more than 1 day according to the situation, SM can cancel his contract. And if he doesn't fulfill his duties, according to the situation he could be fined 5,000,000 won (= USD 4,245 currently).

According to the contract, Hankyung doesn't have any right to decide for his schedule, he has to follow SM's words and only attend the events/performances that SM's manager designed for him. Hankyung even had been forced to attend some activities because of SM's order when he was ill.



6. The profit distribution and copyrights between SM and Hankyung.

During the contract period, all the copyright of albums and song will belong to SM. Even if Hankyung were to write, compose, and/or arrange the songs, they can be used by SM without his permission.

As for the profit, the album has to sell more than 50,000 copies before Hankyung can receive 2% of the profit.
The digital sales have to be equal with the net profit before Hankyung can get 10% of the profit.
The overseas income has to be equal with the net profit too before Hankyung can get 60% of the profit.

As for overseas activities income, after SM deducts all the promotion activities expenses & fees, the remaining money will be divided among the group members.