The fan union representing Korean fans of NJZ, known as Team Bunnies, has released a statement to condemn the press conference held on February 27 KST by five popular music industry associations, including the Korea Management Federation (KMF), the Korea Entertainment Producer's Association (KEPA), the Record Label Industry Association of Korea (LIAK), the Recording Industry Association of Korea (RIAK), and the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). 

Notably, the statement released by Team Bunnies questioned the "qualifications" of those currently presiding over the above associations, pointing out past controversies allegedly involving leading members. 

According to Team Bunnies, 

"There are executive members of the above associations who were previously indicted and received sentences for committing child abuse against label artists and trainees. Other members received warnings from the Fair Trade Commission for interfering in the broadcast activities of artists whose rights to a legal termination of their exclusive contracts were fairly acknowledged in court. Furthermore, some members were found guilty of a price-fixing scheme involving digital sales, while others were involved in vote rigging and broadcast manipulation. In another well-known legal case, members of the above associations were received sentences for embezzling 18.2 billion KRW in music royalties from copyright holders. Numerous such individuals directly or indirectly affiliated with these serious criminal acts are currently active as members of the above associations.

On the hidden side of the brilliant industry that is K-Pop, there are many problems associated with the poor treatment of trainees, violations of artists' rights, advanced purchasing of albums by record labels which hinders fair competition, extreme competition on charts, infringement of fans' and consumers' rights, etc. We would like to ask if the very individuals who are responsible for these problems and who refuse to act upon them, and who often remain silent when it comes to the wrongdoings of K-Pop agencies, are qualified to criticize specific artists and raise accusations of 'threats to the industry'." 

Additionally, the statement by Team Bunnies called out the five associations for the joint statement issued on February 19 KST, making policy suggestions to "eradicate tampering in the popular music industry" while directly referring to the "NewJeans case". 

Team Bunnies claimed, "The associations insisted that they did not intend to take sides in any specific cases; however, their claims then proceeded to side with HYBE and ADOR." The statement also condemned the five associations for "engaging in media play intended to be favorable only for the label and disadvantageous for the artists," instead demanding a "fair judgement of the situation after hearing the arguments of both sides". 

The full statement by Team Bunnies can be found below. 

SEE ALSO: K-netizens react to protest trucks sent by NewJeans fans asking the members to reconcile with ADOR