Small Business Suffers Losses After Failing To Be Paid For Services To Idol Group

An informant who’s parents operates a clothing sample studio has come forward claiming that an entertainment company has failed to pay for idol stage outfits for several months, causing financial hardship.

On January 21, 2026, they stated that their parents had received a request to product outfits for idols. The clothes were even worn both during the music video, and at an awards ceremony.

“My parents run a clothing sample studio. On October 28 last year, we received a request from an entertainment agency to produce outfits for an idol, and we completed the production. The final delivery was made on December 9.”

The idol in question reportedly wore the outfits made by the informant’s parents while filming a music video, and even wore them while receiving a K-pop girl group grand prize at an end-of-year awards ceremony. However, the agency allegedly failed to pay the outfit production fees and began repeatedly delaying payment.

“The staff member who commissioned the outfits said that they were not in charge of payments and gave us the contact information of a company director. During a phone call, the director said the payment would be made by January 15, but we still haven’t received anything.”

After that, the informant and their family attempted to contact the agency multiple times without success. They also sent direct messages (DMs) through the company’s official social media accounts, but received no response.

Eventually, on January 20, the family sent a formal certified letter to both the agency’s corporate address and the representative’s home, notifying them that further action would be taken if payment was not made within three days of receipt.

“It’s ₩1.40 million KRW (about $956 USD) owed to my parents’ business, and ₩600,000 KRW (about $410 USD) for introducing them to another vendor, ₩2.00 million KRW (about $1,370 USD) in total. As a small business, this is incredibly difficult. It may seem like a small or large amount depending on perspective, but how are we supposed to deal with this kind of ghosting? We just hope to receive payment for the work we completed. We want this to be resolved amicably without harming the dreams of the young idols who wore the outfits. We also hope situations like this don’t continue to happen in the future.”

There has been no word yet as to who the idol or their company is.