Hong Jin Young Files For Termination Of Her Contract, Reveals The Horrific Actions Her Agency Did To Her

Hong Jin Young announced through her personal Instagram account that she recently filed for termination of her exclusive contract with Music K Entertainment, and revealed many of the horrible things her agency has done to her.

In her lengthy statement, she revealed everything that has happened to her that led to this drastic decision.

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안녕하세요. 홍진영입니다. 오늘 여러분에게 갑작스럽지만 다소 무거운 이야기를 전해드리려 합니다… ⠀ 저는 데뷔후 지금까지 10년넘게 가족처럼 생각했던 소속사와 계약해지를 요구하는 법적 절차를 밟게 되었습니다. 이러한 결정을 하기까지 지난 4월부터 오늘날까지 하루하루가 너무나 고통스러웠고 많은 고민과 망설임 그리고 두려움이 있었습니다. ⠀ 그동안 저는 의리와 신뢰 하나로 소속사에 제 의사를 제대로 주장해본적이 없었으며 스케줄 펑크 한번 없이 일에만 매진해 왔습니다. 종종 돈독이 올랐단 댓글들을 보며 그렇게 비춰지고 있는 제 자신이 너무 싫을 때가 있었고 제 몸을 좀 쉬게 해주고 싶을 때도 많았으나, 하루에 여러차례 한달에 많게는 수십건의 행사를 묵묵히 열심히 하는게 보잘것없는 저를 키워준 회사에 대한 보답이라 항상 생각해왔습니다. ⠀ 그런데 어느 순간 건강도 급격히 나빠지고 6월초엔 하복부 염증이 심해져 수술까지 받는 일이 생겼습니다. 스케줄을 소화하는게 너무 힘들었고 수차례 고통을 호소했음에도 소속사는 일정을 강행하였습니다. 그 와중에 저도 모르는 사이 많은 일들이 제 이름으로 벌어지고있었습니다. 제가 모르는 광고주와의 이면 계약, 페이퍼컴퍼니를 통해 매달 수수료 명목으로 적게는 수백만원, 많게는 수천만원 빠져나간 것으로 의심되는 불투명한 정산 방식, 제가 원치 않았던 공동사업계약에 대한 체결 강행, 행사 및 광고 수익 정산 다수 누락 등. 고민 끝에 저는 지난 6월 소속사에 전속 계약 해지 통지서를 전달하게 되었습니다. ⠀ 사실 상황이 이렇게까지 되리라곤 저도 상상하지 못했습니다. 한 식구라 철석같이 믿으며 일해왔던 그동안의 시간이 시간인 만큼 오해가 있었을지 모른다는 생각에 마지막까지 진실한 설명과 반성을 기대했고 끝까지 믿고 싶었습니다. ⠀ 그렇지만 소속사는 사과 한마디 없이 변명으로만 일관한 채 어떠한 잘못도 시인하지 않았습니다. 그런 모습을 지켜본 전 도저히 더 이상의 신뢰관계가 유지될 수 없다는 판단에 이르렀습니다. ⠀ 오늘 저는 소속사를 상대로 “전속계약효력정지가처분 신청서”를 법원에 제출하였습니다. 그리고 한 식구라 여겼던, 그래서 더 배신감과 실망감이 컸던 소속사 관계자들을 고소하기로 하였습니다. 상황이 이렇게까지 된 것에 저 또한 마음이 너무 많이 아픕니다. 저와는 어울리지않게 그동안 잠도 편히잘수 없었고 또 매일매일 혼자 숨죽여 울었고 지금 글을 쓰는 이순간에도 눈물이 납니다. 항상 밝은 모습만 보여드리고 싶었는데 힘들어도 무슨 일이 있어도 절대 티내지 않겠다고 신인때부터 지금까지 저 혼자서 약속했는데. 여러분들께 이런 모습 보여드려 정말 죄송합니다. ⠀ 저에겐 십년이란 세월이 무색할만큼 이 회사를 너무나 믿었기에 지난 몇 개월 동안 회사로부터 받은 배신감과 실망감이 너무나도 큰 상처가 되었습니다. ⠀ 이제 저는 홀로 외로운싸움을 해야하고 이 소식을 제가 직접 전해드리는게 맞겠다는 판단에 이렇게 부득이하게 글을 올리게 되었습니다. 저를 응원해주시는 많은 분들께 걱정을 끼쳐드려 죄송합니다.

A post shared by hongjinyoung 홍진영 (@sambahong) on Aug 23, 2019 at 1:48am PDT

She first revealed to her fans the bad news, before going into in depth detail.

Hello, this is Hong Jin Young. I know I am suddenly writing to you all, but it is to give some sad news to everyone.

I am now going through the legal process of terminating my contract with my agency that I thought of as family for the past 10 years. They were my family from my debut until now. I worried a lot, has a lot of hesitation and fear, and every single day was painful, but I arrived at this decision.

— Hong Jin Young

She revealed that she had full trust in her agency, so she never felt the need to question them.

Up until now, I have been loyal and trusted my agency. I’ve been working hard without missing a schedule, and without properly thinking deeply about things.

Sometimes, I would see comments claiming I just wanted money, and I hated myself for having people think of me like that. There were many times where I just wanted to give myself some rest. But in the end, I thought that working hard, performing at several events every day, dozens of events a month, was how I could repay my company for raising my since I was a rookie.

— Hong Jin Young

One event was the breaking point in her decision to terminate her contract.

At one point, my health quickly deteriorated. In early June, I had an infection in my lower abdomen, and it became so serious I had to receive surgery. I told my agency many times it was too painful to carry on schedules, but they still made me attend them.

While all of this was going on, there were many other things also happening, that I was not aware of. Secret contracts with advertisers that I never knew of, poor accounting practices that are I suspect took tens of millions of won in my appearance fees through paper companies, forcing me to sign contracts with advertisers I don’t want to do, leaving out part of my commission from performing at events, and more. After thinking about it, I submitted my notice to cancel my contract in June.

— Hong Jin Young

She never believed something like this would happen, but her agency is not even apologizing.

To be honest, I never thought this situation would end up like this. We were one family, and we trusted each other, I thought there was a misunderstanding and I was waiting for an honest explanation from the agency with their reflection, and I wanted to trust them right to the end.

However, the agency has not said a single word of apology, and they consistently give excuses and do not acknowledge their wrongdoings. As someone seeing this, I decided I could no longer maintain a sense of trust with them anymore.

— Hong Jin Young

She kept on apologizing to her fans for having to do something like this and revealed she filed for termination today.

Today, I submitted my application to terminate my contract to the courts, against my agency and to prosecute them, as I was betrayed and disappointed by them, as I thought of them as family. My heart hurts so much, that this situation has happened.

Unlike my normal self, I couldn’t sleep properly and I was crying alone everyday. Even as I am writing this, tears are coming out. I really wanted to show everyone just a bright and happy image when I am in the public view. I made a promise to myself when I was a rookie to never let it show that I was in pain or having a hard time.

I’m truly sorry for showing everyone an image like this.

— Hong Jin Young

She ended her letter, determined to fight for herself, and recover from her huge wound.

I had trusted this company so much, the decade that passed by now feels shameful. The betrayal and disappointment that I have felt in the past few months has become a big wound for me now.

Now, I need to fight alone, and I decided that it is only right for me to let everyone know directly, so I have to release this. I’m sorry for making all of you who cheer for me feel worried.

— Hong Jin Young