K-pop's struggle with ‘tampering’

From Fifty Fifty and EXO-CBX to NewJeans, the ever-popular K-pop scene has recently been overshadowed by tampering disputes that insiders warn could shake the foundation of the industry. Tampering, in K-pop, refers to unauthorized contact by an outside party — typically a rival agency or producer — with an artist still bound by an exclusive contract. While such cases were sometimes overlooked in the past, the industry’s explosive growth and the massive investments into idol groups have made agen