Fans Save Artist From Manager

Fans of Korean-American violinist Eugene Park have launched a campaign to “save” the musician from his former management agency, which fans claim has abused and imprisoned him for the last five years, forcing him to perform at events unrelated to classical music.

They say Park was “kidnapped” by the agency, which kept all his fees.

Park, who specializes in electric violin, is a graduate of respected American music school Juilliard and in the ’90s became popular in Korea, where he has released three albums.

The violinist himself addressed these concerns on a local TV show Aug. 1, admitting that he did, in fact, live with his former managers for “more than a year” in a hotel “and ate mostly Chinese food.”

He added, “I think of my former agents as my friends and I don’t want to say bad things about them. They did hit me and I wish that won’t happen any more.”

He also said he “sometimes” doesn’t get paid for his performances, but that the important thing was playing.

A representative of Park’s current agency accompanied him to the interview and said he is now “safe and well,” though Park’s fans say that the new agents seem to be no better than the last ones.