SM Entertainment denies agreement with CBX amid uncertainty over EXO reunion

EXO members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin, known collectively as CBX / Courtesy of SM Entertainment

Tensions have resurfaced between EXO’s subunit CBX — consisting of members Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin — and their agency SM Entertainment, casting doubt over the trio’s participation in upcoming group activities.

SM Entertainment released a statement Thursday, emphasizing that “settling legal disputes and participating in group activities are separate matters.”

The agency said it has consistently prevailed in past legal proceedings and that its sole request to the three members was to honor a clause in the June 18, 2023, agreement requiring them to pay 10 percent of their individual activity revenue — a condition it claims has yet to be fulfilled.

Regarding the exclusion of the three members from EXO’s forthcoming group plans, SM said, “Mutual trust has been deeply damaged due to repeated disputes, and the team, members and fans have all suffered. It is only natural that sincere efforts toward restoring trust and fulfilling the existing agreement should come first.”

Earlier, CBX’s agency INB100 had issued its own statement expressing the trio’s willingness to accept all of SM’s conditions to facilitate EXO’s complete reunion. The agency argued that after a second mediation session on Oct. 2, it had agreed to SM’s terms but that the company nonetheless announced group activities excluding CBX.

SM refuted that claim. “Contrary to CBX’s assertion that they accepted all terms after the Oct. 2 mediation, they actually filed an objection on Oct. 16. We express deep regret over this distortion of facts.”

On Monday, SM announced that EXO will hold a fan meeting on Dec. 13 and 14, followed by the release of its eighth studio album in the first quarter of next year. However, the lineup includes only Suho, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun and Lay — excluding Chen, Baekhyun and Xiumin.

Despite the controversy, CBX reiterated through INB100 that they remain committed to joining EXO’s full-group activities once a fair resolution is reached, underscoring the continued uncertainty surrounding one of K-pop’s longest-running boy bands.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.