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Omega X's contract with former agency officially terminated

Members of boy band Omega X pose for photos after an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at JTBC's headquarters in Sangam-dong, western Seoul, on Nov. 3. [PARK SANG-MOON]


Boy band Omega X's exclusive contract with former agency Spire Entertainment has officially been terminated as of March 27, the band's current agency, IPQ Entertainment, said Monday.

The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) came to the official decision last Tuesday that Omega X's contract with Spire Entertainment is no longer effective and ordered the former agency to pay the band 10 million won ($7,422) as compensation.

The KCAB is an intermediary board founded under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy whose decisions are deemed equal to those of a court and are legally binding under the Arbitration Act.

The latest ruling is the result of a lawsuit Omega X's members filed after a local court approved the injunction on their exclusive contracts with Spire Entertainment on Jan. 11, 2023.

Spire Entertainment claimed that the injunction was unfair and that Omega X's contract with IPQ Entertainment was an illegal “double arrangement” because Spire Entertainment had never formally consented to the group's change of agency.

The KCAB cited Spire Entertainment's former CEO Kang Seong-hee's violence toward Omega X members as reason enough for the contract to be terminated. It also determined that the former agency's other arguments, such as the fact that Kang worked hard for the good of the band and that IPQ Entertainment had poached the group from Spire Entertainment, were either irrelevant or insufficient to revoke contract termination.

IPQ Entertainment demanded that Spire Entertainment pay 50 million won, though the KCAB only ordered 10 million in compensation. Spire Entertainment will also have to cover 1.6 million won out of the 2.3 million won in legal fees.

“We promise to continue our endeavor in uncovering the truth in the ongoing investigations and lawsuits,” IPQ Entertainment said in a news release Monday.

“We aim to better the injustices that are being forced upon young people's dreams and give hope to anyone else who may be going through a similar situation.”

To find out more about Omega X, visit Celeb Confirmed


BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]