On the evening of May 3rd KST, six members of the boy group NOIR revealed that they had won a lawsuit against their former agency LUK Factory to terminate their exclusive contracts.
As reported by eNews Korea on May 2nd KST, the legal reports the Civil Affairs Division of the Western District Court ruled that the plaintiffs won the lawsuit which was filed by six of NOIR’s nine members against their former company and that the defendant will bear the cost of the lawsuit. The court also ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the damages lawsuit filed by LUK Factory against NOIR.
NOIR is a nine-member boy group that debuted on April 9th, 2018, and includes Kim Yeonguk and Yoo Hoyeon, who appeared on Season 2 of “Produce 101.” Meanwhile, the group has been on hiatus since their fourth album which was released in April 2020.
According to NOIR’s lawyer, the group signed a six-and-a-half-year exclusive contract with LUK Factory in 2018 but the agency reportedly violated several obligations, including supporting their entertainment activities and providing settlement data. The lawsuit was filed In July 2022 to confirm the non-existence of the exclusive contract.
However, LUK Factory refused to terminate the contract and instead filed a lawsuit for damages against the six NOIR members.
Lawyer Jeon Hyun-kyu of Korean law firm Sunbaek — who represented NOIR — stated the reason for the lawsuit: “The company is required to issue quarterly settlement statements and bookkeeping data from the time sales are generated, but did not provide them properly, such as not attaching supporting data. Since July 2020, the agency has failed to provide the plaintiffs with hair care, makeup support, and a vehicle for performances, including dyeing their hair. From October 1, 2021, the agency did not have the minimum human and material resources for the entertainment planning business, such as registering a shared office as the company’s address, thereby violating its obligation to support the plaintiffs’ entertainment activities under the exclusive contract.”
The court said in a ruling, “It is reasonable to conclude that the agency breached its obligation to conduct training and entrustment, its obligation to provide support, and its obligation to settle and provide settlement data, which resulted in the breakdown of the trust between the plaintiffs and the defendant”
They added that “in April 2022, the defendant attempted to transfer the rights and obligations under the management contract, including the right to manage the plaintiffs, to another management company without the written consent of the plaintiffs, in violation of the terms of the management contract, and under these circumstances, the plaintiffs may have had strong doubts about the defendant’s willingness or ability to faithfully fulfill its obligations as a management company to support the plaintiffs’ entertainment activities.”
The six NOIR members involved were Lee Junyong, Kim Sihoon, Yoo Hoyeon, Kim Minhyuk, Yang Siha, and Kim Daewon who shared a joint statement posted on each of their personal Instagram accounts to fans (called Lumiere) regarding the news.
“Hello Lumiere!
This is NOIR’s Lee Junyong, Kim Sihoon, Yoo Hoyeon, Kim Minhyuk, Yang Siha, and Kim Daewon.
We wish we could greet you with good news, but today we have some heavy news to share.
The six of us in NOIR have decided that we can no longer maintain our trust and relationship with our former agency, LUK Factory, due to their financial problems and breach of the exclusive contract.
As a result, we have been going through two trials with our former agency LUK Factory for about two years, starting with the sending of the proof of contents in June 2022, and the ‘claim to confirm the non-existence of the exclusive contract’ and the ‘claim for damages’ filed by the other party, and on 18 April 2024, we won both cases and completed the contract termination.
2018. 04. 09 Lumiere, you have been so supportive and loving to us from our dream debut until now. Thank you so much.
We wanted to show you better activities, but due to various circumstances, we fell short, and we are very sorry and heartbroken.
We will no longer be able to be with you as NOIR, but our members will continue to work hard in their respective positions.
We will also work harder to bring you more good news.
Last but not least, we hope that you will always be healthy and happy, and we thank you for loving us!
Sincerely, NOIR’s Lee Junyong, Kim Siheon, Yoo Hoyeon, Kim Minhyuk, Yang Siha, and Kim Daewon.”
At the time of publishing, members Hoyeon, Minhyuk, and Junyong also shared personal messages on their Instagram stories:
“Thank you for always supporting us come to visit for all your support, visits, and love. I’m always watching and cheering for you too!!! I hope you’re always happy 🫶”
– Hoyeon
“Lumiere, who gave me strength
– Minhyuk
Thank you. Thanks to you, l had fun and I was happy
Please cheer for our future moves! 👍🏻👍🏻”
“Even if it’s hard thanks to Lumiere I was able to overcome it
– Junyong
We’ll show you better performances
I want to play music to you
Thank you always and I love you
☺️❤️”
Since their 2018 debut, NOIR released four mini-albums that featured title tracks such as “Gangsta,” “Airplane Mode,” “Doom Doom,” and “Lucifer.” They gained moderate success and even had a European tour in 2019.
A notable incident fans will recall happened in 2023 when NOIR’s YouTube channel was suddenly wiped of all content and changed into girl group HASHTAG’s channel. It contained five years of hard work with music videos, behind-the-scenes, vlogs, variety content, mixtapes, cover videos, and more.
Member Hoyeon was vocal on Instagram about his shock and disgust at the company for doing that without the group’s knowledge or permission.
Fans also pointed out that Hoyeon was a member who worked the most on the channel’s content, including filming and editing videos as well as providing English subtitles for international fans.
Fortunately, LUK Factory quickly reversed its actions and restored NOIR’s channel to how it was originally.
Since their last activity with NOIR, most members have completed their military service and have been fairly active on their social media accounts.
Additionally, some have continued to work in music as producers, with Siheon part of the production team VILLAINX MUSIC under the name SALUL, and Hoyeon a member of the production team CEILOGROOVE under the name BigsharKK.
Many believed the group had silently disbanded due to their inactivity, but with this revelation, fans are showing the boys strong messages of support and love. We wish the six members of NOIR all the very best in their future pursuits!
Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to us @whatthekpop1 or leaving us a comment on Facebook and Instagram!
Justin is an Aussie K-pop fanboy passionate about underrated and under-loved artists. He loves all types of music and is a dedicated TV show and soap opera viewer.
MEDIA: LUK Factory
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