Legal representatives for the ousted founder of HYBE’s Ador label, Min Hee-jin, have presented a lengthy rebuttal of allegations that she tried to tamper with her former employer’s contract with K-pop group NewJeans, in a bid to lure them away to a new company that she would run.
That rebuttal came via what Korean JoongAng Daily has dubbed “a confusing press conference that leaves more questions than answers”.
According to JoongAng Daily, Min's lawyers said the tampering allegations have “already spread widely and are being treated as fact”, which is why today’s press conference was staged, despite formal litigation in relation to the allegations continuing to go through the motions.
According to the attorneys, the lengthy statement issued today should “serve as a clarification regarding allegations of tampering and related issues”.
Min was forced out of the CEO job at Ador in August 2024 after falling out with the agency’s parent company, K-pop powerhouse HYBE. Three months later the members of NewJeans announced they were quitting the label, in no small part in support of Min. That then prompted a flurry of legal action as Ador sought to enforce its contract with the girl group.
HYBE and Ador prevailed in court last year, and in November the members of NewJeans started to confirm that they would start working with Ador again on new releases and touring activities. For a time it looked like all five members would return, but last month it emerged that only three members - Haerin, Hyein and Hanni - had actually reached new agreements with the agency.
Talks with fourth member Minji are seemingly ongoing, but the fifth member, Danielle, was formally axed from the group at the end of 2025. Having terminated her contract, HYBE then announced it was suing Danielle, one of her family members and Min for a neat $30 million for alleged breach of contract.
HYBE and Min were already embroiled in a separate legal battle, though it seems that it was this latest lawsuit that prompted today’s press conference.
The tampering allegations mainly relate to meetings and conversations Min had after being axed as CEO of Ador and before NewJeans announced they were quitting the agency. Those meetings also involved the uncle of one of the members of NewJeans, and a Korean business man called Park Jung-kyu and his company Davolink.
Min insists that those meetings were part of her bid to ensure the successful future of NewJeans within the Ador and HYBE empire, most likely with her retaining a key role in the group’s creative output. She says the uncle approached her claiming to have a contact at HYBE that he could use to help facilitate a truce. Once she was working with the uncle, Min adds, he then introduced her to Park and Davolink.
It’s been alleged that Min was actually looking to work with Park and Davolink to create a new business that would then seek to sign NewJeans, taking the group away from HYBE’s Ador. But that, Min insists, is not the case, because throughout autumn 2024 she was still trying to engineer a future where both she and NewJeans would work with HYBE, albeit with some independence from the parent company. .
Despite there being different versions of events depending on who you talk to, that core dispute is relatively easy to follow. Meetings and conversations took place, possibly aiming to ensure Min and NewJeans could continue to work within Ador, or possibly to sign the group to a new company.
Things get complicated because of an additional allegation that other people involved in those autumn 2024 conversations around NewJeans were actually participating in a “stock manipulation scheme”, seemingly in relation to Davolink shares.
The specifics of that scheme are somewhat confusing, but it’s seemingly claimed that participants were hoping to boost Davolink stock prices by plotting a move into the entertainment industry involving NewJeans. If true, that means Min and NewJeans were basically exploited by the people running the scheme, who also used the group member’s uncle as part of their plan.
So, it’s all a bit confusing. But either way, it seems likely that there will be plenty more litigation relating to Ador, Min and NewJeans this year. For its part, Ador was quite dismissive of today’s press conference, simply stating that if Min’s lawyers have claims to make, that’s “something to be argued in court”.
In the meantime, according to JoongAng Daily, Min’s lawyers concluded today’s conference by stating, “We will take legal action against inaccurate reporting and also proceed with defamation lawsuits and a complaint over a violation of the Capital Markets Act against those responsible for the market disruption”.