K-pop trainee fined $3,600 for small tattoo, leaving dorm

Xportsnews

A former K-pop debut team trainee has been ordered to pay their agency 5 million won ($3,600) after getting a tattoo and leaving the dorm without permission — an incident that sheds light on the strict rules governing trainee life in the K-pop industry.

According to legal sources on June 23, Judge Lee Baek-gyu of the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 96 ruled in favor of the agency, which had filed a damages lawsuit against the trainee, identified only as A.

The agency and the trainee signed an exclusive contract in June 2018. The agreement included clauses allowing the agency to impose restrictions on behavior deemed unbecoming of a public figure, such as tattoos, dating, clubbing, drinking and smoking. It also stipulated a penalty of 30 million won for each violation of those terms.

In October 2018, the trainee left the dorm without notifying the agency and received a small tattoo on the back of their neck. After being warned by the agency, the trainee reportedly experienced strained relations with peers and was eventually excluded from the band's final lineup.

The trainee later filed a separate lawsuit seeking to confirm that the exclusive contract was no longer valid. The case reached the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in favor of the trainee, citing the agency’s failure to fulfill its obligation to provide financial settlement documents — thereby breaking the relationship of trust.

Following that outcome, the agency countersued the trainee for over 80 million won in damages. In the recent ruling, the court acknowledged that the trainee had breached the contract but also considered the severity of the actions.

“The unauthorized departure occurred only once, and the tattoo was small and located on the back of the neck, where it is not easily visible,” the judge said. “A penalty exceeding 5 million won goes against good morals.”

The agency appealed the ruling and is preparing for a second trial.

This article from Xportsnews is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.