SM Entertainment Moves To Block Former EXO Members Kris And Luhan's Chinese Activities

SM Entertainment will be pursuing legal action against two former artists.

Luhan and Kris (Wu Yi Fan) are former SM Entertainment employees who were members of idol group EXO. The two filed contract nullification lawsuits against SM Entertainment in 2014, and went to China to pursue careers there. SM Entertainment has issued a statement explaining that Kris and Luhan's Chinese activities are illegal, as they are still legally under contract with the Korean agency until their respective lawsuits are settled.

"Kris and Luhan have filed a lawsuit through Korean legal channels in May and October of 2014 respectively," the statement began. "After their one-sided legal action and before the matter was even taken to court, the two have been using EXO’s fame to participate in movies, advertisements, events and award shows."

"These activities have infringed on the rights of EXO members as well as SM and also caused extensive financial damages to SM and its partners."

According to the K-Pop Herald, SM Entertainment filed a damage suit against Luhan and companies that Luhan modeled for. The Shanghai courts accepted the lawsuit, which seeks settlement for breach of contract and copyright violations.

A similar suit against Kris is said to be in the works, but has not yet been filed.

SM Entertainment's statement says that the legal action is due to the two former members using EXO's popularity for their own personal gain in China.

"SM used massive amounts of resources to turn EXO into one of the best artists in the world," the company said in their statement. "Kris and Luhan left the group without sufficient reason as soon as the team gained fame and ignored contracts, trust and ethics and pursued their own profit."

"This action betrayed the trust between them and the company as well as the members. This action is also an abuse of the legal system."

Additionally, due to the fact that the lawsuits each brought against SM Entertainment to nullify contracts are still in mediation and have not yet been settled, both Kris and Luhan are still bound legally to SM Entertainment's exclusivity contracts. "The exclusive contract between SM with Kris and Luhan are in effect until the final decision is made in court," said the Korean agency. "Therefore we plan to hold them responsible for all their illegally carried out activities in that duration."

SM Entertainment has said that they will use all legal possibilities to prevent additional damages financially to the company and EXO. "Also any solitary actions that brings in profit are an infringement of their contract. We will make sure [Luhan and Kris] are held legally responsible for such actions."

Legal team King & Wood Mallesons is reportedly representing SM Entertainment in the case against Luhan.

"We are also going to protect the rights of the company and EXO in other countries besides China to prevent further damages," SM concluded in their statement.

Kris and Luhan debuted with EXO as members of EXO-M, EXO's Mandarin speaking subgroup, in 2012. Kris was the leader of the group. The two filed nullification lawsuits in 2014, Kris in May and Luhan in October. Both have pursued acting careers in China since leaving EXO, and released various songs for soundtracks. Luhan has also won multiple awards in China since leaving EXO.

EXO's remaining ten members are planning a 2015 comeback in South Korea.