Kang Daniel has been ordered to pay 400 million KRW (approximately 290,000 USD) to Genie Music, following a court ruling related to unrecouped concert revenue. However, his current agency has pushed back, calling the ruling “an unreasonable claim of joint liability.”
On August 25th KST, the 31st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court partially ruled in favor of Genie Music, which had filed a lawsuit against Kang Daniel and his former agency, KONNECT Entertainment, seeking damages of approximately 710 million KRW(approximately 510,000 USD) .
According to court documents, Genie Music and KONNECT Entertainment signed a concert contract in June 2022, under which Genie would pay 2.2 billion KRW(1.6 million USD) to KONNECT in exchange for 25 concerts (including encore shows) by Kang Daniel to be completed by June 30, 2023. The agreement also stipulated that if concert revenue failed to reach the advance payment amount, Kang Daniel would perform additional shows until Genie recouped the full amount.
However, Kang Daniel’s performances in Seoul, the Philippines, Thailand, and other locations generated only ₩1.48 billion KRW, falling short of the target. The court found that since Kang Daniel had signed performance confirmations appended to the contract, both he and KONNECT were jointly liable for the resulting loss due to breach of contract.
Still, the court acknowledged that full responsibility could not be assigned to Kang Daniel, considering that:
- The issue was raised several months after the contract ended
- He believed he had fulfilled all contractual obligations
- He had never received a request for additional performances
Kang Daniel’s current agency, ARA, called the judgment “startling.” In a statement, the company said, “The contract was made between two companies, yet suddenly the artist is being held personally liable. This is a highly unusual and groundless lawsuit.”
They added, “At the time, Kang Daniel successfully completed all 26 scheduled performances, as agreed. There was no request for additional concerts. We find it unreasonable that he’s being held jointly liable without clear legal grounds and hope the appellate court will set things right.”
Kang Daniel initially rose to fame through the project group Wanna One, and after legal disputes with his former management, he launched KONNECT Entertainment in 2019. However, internal conflicts with the majority shareholder led to criminal complaints involving document forgery, embezzlement, and breach of trust. The company was officially shut down in June 2023. He signed an exclusive contract with Aera the following month and has continued his career under the new agency.
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