2025-07-24 StarNews Coverage of Main Lawsuit Third Hearing

Korean Original: 뉴진스, 조정서 어도어와 직접 담판..복귀 시나리오 그려지나[종합] 

English translation by Grok AI

Third Hearing in Exclusive Contract Validity Lawsuit: "Betrayal for Monopolizing Entertainment Activities" vs. "Min Hee-jin's Illegal Audit as the Starting Point"

[Star News | Seoul Central District Court = Reporter Yoon Sang-geun]

On March 7, 2025, the first hearing for ADOR’s injunction to "preserve its status as an agency and prohibit NewJeans from signing advertising contracts" was held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where girl group NewJeans made a statement. /Photo by Kim Chang-hyun chmt@

Will the lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract between girl group NewJeans and their agency ADOR lead to a dramatic settlement?

The 41st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the third hearing for the lawsuit filed by ADOR to confirm the validity of its exclusive contract with NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein). Attorneys for both sides attended the hearing.

During the hearing, ADOR presented a prepared presentation, stating, "The essence of this case is the betrayal of trainees who changed their minds after achieving success as celebrities." They continued, "We invested 21 billion won and fully supported NewJeans. We allocated 7 billion won for their debut album and 2 billion won for music videos alone. HYBE also actively supported them. Thanks to this, NewJeans achieved explosive success, which the court has acknowledged." ADOR further argued, "Despite this, NewJeans’ unilateral termination of the contract violates the exclusive agreement, and the court has emphasized that this cannot be permitted. The desire to monopolize entertainment activities may be the reason for their betrayal. There was also tampering by Min Hee-jin, who attempted to poach NewJeans three years ago."

When ADOR mentioned Min Hee-jin’s KakaoTalk messages, NewJeans’ side countered, "Such matters should not be discussed in an open courtroom." The court asked, "Was the audit illegal?" to which ADOR responded, "NewJeans’ side cannot claim the audit was illegal either." The court then stated, "The plaintiff’s right to argue must also be ensured," dismissing NewJeans’ claims again.

Through their presentation, ADOR revealed significant details about Min Hee-jin’s KakaoTalk messages related to "poaching NewJeans," stating, "She instructed the mothers of NewJeans to write protest emails and send them to ADOR, explicitly directing them to aim for contract termination. She showed meticulous planning, even considering the contract’s grace period, and expressed confidence by saying, ‘There’s no evidence.’ She also instructed that the tone of the protest emails should reflect the expressions of a certain member’s father. Instead of seeking corrections from ADOR and HYBE, she created forced justifications for contract termination and prepared seven points for a media campaign. For seven months, they conducted a public opinion war." ADOR further claimed, "Min Hee-jin was behind the contract termination. NewJeans’ parents also participated in the media campaign. Min Hee-jin was also behind their live broadcasts and appearances at the National Assembly."

ADOR added, "We provided ample opportunities for entertainment activities and settlements. The trust in ADOR toward NewJeans remains intact. The court has also stated that NewJeans cannot claim trust was broken based on their subjective perspective." They addressed claims that HYBE abandoned NewJeans, saying, "The claim that HYBE ‘discarded NewJeans to start anew’ is a clear factual error. Min Hee-jin raised no objections initially but used a report written a year and five months ago to fuel a forced media campaign."

Regarding the issue of ILLIT’s manager allegedly saying “ignore them,” ADOR countered, "This is not grounds for contract termination, and there was no reason to delete CCTV footage. It was simply deleted after the 30-day retention period."

ADOR further stated, "After ADOR sent a corrective response, Min Hee-jin resigned a week later, and NewJeans terminated their contract. From start to finish, Min Hee-jin was the mastermind. NewJeans’ actions, aligning with Min Hee-jin’s behavior, also violate the contract. They are trying to offload the risks of failure onto the agency while monopolizing the fruits of success."

NewJeans’ side, in their presentation, argued, "The reason we’re in this legal battle is because of HYBE’s audit targeting Min Hee-jin in April 2024. They accused her of ‘poaching NewJeans’ and attempting to seize control, but the audit or dismissal reasons did not include such claims; it was primarily about breach of fiduciary duty. NewJeans suffered the most damage from this. The police later found no evidence of Min Hee-jin’s breach of duty. The audit and dismissal attempt were based on false premises and aimed at ousting Min Hee-jin."

They continued, "The current ADOR is not the one that achieved success in the past; it’s now controlled by HYBE employees. The significant support and dividends they claim were provided happened under Min Hee-jin’s leadership. We can no longer trust ADOR, so we cannot return to it."

NewJeans’ side questioned, "Is it a coincidence that the plans for two girl groups, three years apart, are identical? There’s clearly a basis for suspicions that ILLIT copied NewJeans." They added, "When a member’s mother raised concerns about copying, and Min Hee-jin brought it up with BELIFT LAB, HYBE immediately launched an audit, labeling it as an attempt to seize control. This retaliatory audit came just six days after the issue was raised. All allegations were dismissed by the police. This was clearly an audit with a predetermined conclusion."

NewJeans further argued, "Min Hee-jin’s KakaoTalk messages were casual, private remarks, yet they were framed as an attempt to seize control." They also noted, "There were only about 120 articles combined about HYBE’s Bang Si-hyuk’s 400 billion won illicit transactions and BTS’s military enlistment leaks, but over 1,700 articles about the audit surfaced ahead of NewJeans’ comeback."

Regarding the claim that NewJeans member Hanni was told to “ignore” by ILLIT’s manager, they said, "There’s footage of them [ILLIT and the manager] entering, but why was the footage of them leaving deleted? It made Hanni look like a liar. How must the members feel? How can we return to an agency that treats its artists as liars instead of protecting them?"

At the end of the hearing, the court set August 14, 2025, as the date for a mediation hearing, to be held privately. The court requested both sides to prepare a mediation proposal and for NewJeans members to attend.