K-Pop Corner: Kim Sung Hyun on why he really left IN2IT
The singer, apart from his phone bills, hasn’t been paid in the last two years
Kim Sung Hyun called has out his agency while explaining his departure from K-Pop group IN2IT.
After MMO Entertainment released a statement confirming the news of his departure on September 5, the group’s youngest member explained the whole situation to fans and the reason behind leaving the group in a lengthy post on his Instagram account.
Besides the $42 (Dh154) monthly fee he receives for his mobile phone bills in the past year, he stated that he never received any monetary payments in the last two years as a member of IN2IT.
He went on to explain that he wasn’t able to promote or perform on stage ever since last year’s ‘Sorry For My English’ promotions. In response to his inquiries on any new albums or promotions, he shared that he received discouraging replies and told him they invested a lot of money on ‘Boys24’ — a 2016 survival show which IN2IT was formed.
Even when he confided in MMO Entertainment about his father’s health difficulties and family’s financial struggles, he revealed that the label’s CEO agreed with entertainment company CJ ENM that Sunghyun had to pay $100,000 (Dh367,300) as a penalty for breach of contract, and claimed that they will only cancel his contract once it’s paid.
The same day of his public online post, MMO Entertainment issued a statement in response to his allegations, revealing he has made one-sided claims to terminate his contract despite the fact that his exclusive contract meets the standards of the Korea Fair Trade Commission. The company concluded that they’ll be responding firmly for defamation of character.
The rapper was a contestant on the popular South Korean competition show ‘Produce X 101’ that produced K-Pop group X1. He was not part of the group’s recent track ‘Run Away’ as he was occupied competing on the show.
In April, the all-male K-Pop group made quite an impression in India for their Bollywood-style dance cover of ‘The Jawaani Song’ from film ‘Student Of The Year 2’.
He is the second member to leave IN2IT following member Jinsub’s departure last year.