The long-awaited first verdict in ATTRAKT’s 13 billion won ($9.6 million) damages lawsuit against former FIFTY FIFTY members Saena, Sio, and Aran will not arrive this week. The Seoul Central District Court has abruptly cancelled the ruling scheduled for November 13 and ordered arguments to reopen, pushing the case — already 1,061 days old — into next year.
According to Star News, the court’s 61st Civil Division set the next hearing for January 15, 2027. The decision came just four days before the verdict was due in a case framed as the K-pop industry’s first major judicial test of “tampering” allegations.
At the heart of the delay is a sharp disagreement over when the members’ exclusive contracts were terminated. Sports Seoul reported that The Givers and the former members have offered a different reading of the termination date — a detail that matters because it affects the settlement ratio for music revenue and the final scale of any damages award.
ATTRAKT said it was taking the delay in stride. “It does not affect the overall trend. The court appears to have postponed the schedule to examine the matter more carefully and thoroughly,” an agency representative said, adding, “Every day feels like my blood is drying up. Implementing justice is such a difficult thing.”
The dispute dates to June 2023, when FIFTY FIFTY — then riding the global success of “Cupid,” the fastest K-pop song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 — filed to suspend their exclusive contracts. The court dismissed that injunction in August 2023, and ATTRAKT terminated the three members’ contracts that October, while member Keena withdrew her appeal and returned. The group has since been reorganized as a five-member act.
ATTRAKT filed the damages suit on December 18, 2023, naming 12 defendants, including the three former members, their parents, The Givers, and its CEO Ahn Sung-il. Arguments concluded on September 18, 2026, after hearings held behind closed doors.
The agency has already scored a partial win in a related case: in January 2026, the court ordered The Givers and Ahn to jointly pay 499.5 million won to ATTRAKT. It is also pursuing a separate suit worth around 20 billion won against Warner Music Korea and Clayton Jin.
With the verdict now pushed into 2027, the tampering case will stay unresolved for at least two more months, and all eyes will be on the January 15 hearing.
