[Update] Pledis sues Kyulkyung for breach of contract, basically claiming she ghosted them

In an official statement, Pledis Entertainment revealed they are suing former PRISTIN and IOI member Kyulkyung for breach of contract, essentially claiming that she went AWOL on them.

1. Kyulkyung signed an exclusive contract with Pledis in 2015 and promoted as part of I.O.I, PRISTIN, and the unit group PRISTIN V. She entered the Chinese market and appeared as a fixed cast member on the first season of Jiangsu Television’s “Crazy Wardrobe” and on iQIYI’s variety show “Idol Producer” as a mentor. Pledis and her Chinese management company XCSS Entertainment have managed her activities in the Chinese entertainment industry by having her appear on ‘Idol Producer,” one of the turning points in her career, and Youku’s drama “Miss Truth.” We have provided her with all of the support she needed to grow into a great artist who is acknowledged in both Korea and China.
2. However, in early September of 2019, Kyulkyung unilaterally sent a baseless notice of termination via mail, email, and an instant messenger, and she is avoiding any communication with the employees of Pledis and XCSS Entertainment.
3. Since then, Kyulkyung has been excluding Pledis and independently appearing on dramas, variety shows, and advertisements in China and thus promoting in the entertainment field very actively while violating our exclusive contract. Therefore, we are in a position in which we must take legal action by taking measures such as a lawsuit to confirm the validity of our exclusive contract with Kyulkyung. XCSS Entertainment has already filed lawsuits in China requesting that she carry out the exclusive contract and to demand compensation.
4. For the duration of the exclusive contract, Pledis has provided all of the support we could to help her promote actively in Korea and China. It is unfortunate to have to share such news with fans and the public.

After all that is said, they hilariously claim at the end that they wish to work things out and return things to normal, which as usual has to be looked at skeptically, but hey Hong Jin Young sorta did it temporarily, I guess.

Truthfully, I have no idea what’s going on with this at the moment as both sides have yet to emerge and all we have to go on is a statement, but with the way they botched PRISTIN (and all their girl groups to an extent), it’s difficult for me to fault anybody who went through that for wanting out. Whether it’s legal or not will be determined in court.

Update

Kyulkyung released her own statement on Weibo, which doesn’t say a whole lot.

“Due to many serious problems during the cooperation process and careful consideration about my career development, I, Kyulkyung, formally sent a proposal of termination of the artist contract to Pledis Entertainment and XCSS Entertainment on September 10, 2019. I thought the two sides should solve it by themselves according to the law and didn’t want a personal matter to disturb everyone. But since things happened, I have to face it and resolve it. I do not want to argue about what is right and wrong anymore. All I can do is to work hard in everything I do, improve myself, show everyone better projects, and not let down the people who love and trust me. I thank the companies for their kindness in the past, and I hope that each will get better in the future.”

We’ll see, I guess.