Will truth behind 'slave contract' of local entertainers be disclosed?

Girls’ Generation, the K-pop girl band currently having their heyday both in Korea and Japan, will make an appearance at the Fair Trade Commission early next month as the subject of an investigation on the so-called “slave contract" that reportedly prevails in the Korean entertainment industry.

The sordid contract became highly controversial when a rising young actress, Jang Ja-yeon, committed suicide due to pressure from her management company to provide sexual service to authority figures.

The issue emerged again after three members of the now-disbanded male group TVXQ filed a suit to end a 13-year exclusive contract with SM Entertainment. In addition, the group’s fan club requested the FTC Seoul office earlier this month to investigate the company’s abuse of its power over artists.

These two cases finally motivated the FTC take action on the issue, and Girls’ Generation, currently managed by the same agency as TVXQ, was summoned to state their views on the three members’ case and the slave contract.

Girls' Generation was slated to appear before the FTC at the end of the month, but the session was postponed upon their company‘s request to collect more related documents and evidence.

The statement of the girl group is expected to make quite an influence over how the issue would be wrapped up.

It is still unknown whether all nine members will appear before the FTC. Since there are doubts whether Girls' Generation would admit the truth of their company’s contract conditions, many eyes are rather on the FTC’s final decision.

An official from the FTC said, “Since the court also has agreed that the 10-year contract term is problematic, the FTC will make a careful investigation on the issue with the help of the Girls’ Generations’ testimony and other evidence.”

Meanwhile, many netizens have expressed doubt over the girl group testifying the truth upon the summons.

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