HYBE Maintains Allegations That Min Hee Jin Attempted to Misappropriate NewJeans in Recent Court Session
The legal showdown between HYBE and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin is intensifying over the termination of their shareholder agreement, with proceedings expected to continue for several months. On June 12, Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 31 held the third hearing related to HYBE’s lawsuit seeking to confirm that the shareholder agreement with Min Hee Jin was terminated. At the same time, the court reviewed Min Hee Jin’s lawsuit demanding payment for stocks involved in a put option.
During the hearing, Min Hee Jin’s lawyers challenged the evidence HYBE presented, specifically some private KakaoTalk messages and personal emails. They argued this material was inadmissible, but HYBE insisted the evidence had already been accepted and reviewed in previous sessions.
HYBE didn’t hold back in their claims against Min:
"The plaintiff’s goal is the growth and development of ADOR. However, this goal became unattainable because of Min Hee Jin" HYBE
HYBE accused Min Hee Jin of trying to manipulate members’ parents and pushing out specific public statements, which raised serious concerns on their side. The company also argued that trust broke down completely last year:
"The defendants seem stuck in time since the injunction filed in May last year. As it became impossible to continue working with someone who had broken trust, the contract was terminated in July. The plaintiff claims termination is difficult under the agreement, but that’s not applicable here." HYBE
This refers to an injunction granted in May 2023 to prevent HYBE from using their voting rights to dismiss Min Hee Jin as ADOR’s CEO. The back and forth then heated up with HYBE accusing her of putting her own interests ahead of the group NewJeans:
"Min Hee Jin prioritized her own interests over NewJeans. We will prove this with the evidence we’ve submitted." HYBE
A major part of HYBE’s case revolves around what they called Min Hee Jin’s “attempt to steal NewJeans.” They claim she planned and acted on this, and they are ready to prove it—though they say the evidence can’t be revealed publicly yet:
"She planned and executed this. If she didn’t, she can explain why our submitted evidence is false. The only thing stopping us is that the evidence cannot be publicly disclosed,"
"She clearly attempted to take NewJeans." HYBE
On the other side, Min Hee Jin’s team pushed back hard, pointing out timing issues and contradictions in HYBE’s arguments:
"The issue of the shareholder agreement termination dates to July 8. But before that, the injunction was granted in May, and the Tokyo Dome concert proceeded without issue. Min Hee Jin was dismissed in August, and the put option was exercised in November. NewJeans did not mention terminating their exclusive contract until November. HYBE is taking events that happened much later and retroactively claiming she tried to take the group." Min Hee Jin’s legal team
They also questioned the logic of HYBE’s “takeover” claims:
"The claim that the members had to declare contract termination for a ‘takeover’ to occur doesn’t make sense. Saying the shareholder agreement was terminated for such a ‘takeover’ is contradictory." Min Hee Jin’s legal team
Additionally, Min Hee Jin’s side insisted they had already slammed HYBE’s accusations publicly and didn’t want to drag out arguments over every minor detail:
"We have already thoroughly rebutted all of HYBE’s claims in press statements. We don’t think it’s necessary to argue every provocative detail beyond normal proceedings." Min Hee Jin’s legal team
Looking ahead, HYBE has requested one witness for the next hearing scheduled on September 11, which will involve examining witnesses. Min Hee Jin’s camp has not requested any witnesses.
TRENDINGBackground context reveals more about how this conflict escalated. HYBE disclosed in their semi-annual report that they had signed a shareholder agreement which included a put option on 20% of ADOR’s shares, a non-controlling stake. After the reporting period ended in July, HYBE terminated this agreement with what they described as “certain shareholders”—a reference to Min Hee Jin. This move triggered HYBE’s lawsuit to confirm the termination.
In November 2023, Min Hee Jin notified HYBE she intended to exercise her put option. According to their contract, she could claim payment based on a formula calculating 13 times ADOR’s average operating profit over the last two years, multiplied by 75% of her shareholding.
Under Min Hee Jin’s leadership, ADOR posted an operating loss of 4 billion KRW (about 2.95 million USD) in 2022, likely related to expenses around NewJeans’ debut in July. The company rebounded in 2023 with a 33.5 billion KRW (roughly 24.7 million USD) operating profit. Audit reports showed Min holding 573,160 shares, roughly 18% of ADOR, which put her entitlement around 26 billion KRW (~19 million USD).
HYBE disputed this valuation and Min’s put option, arguing:
"ADOR paid Min Hee Jin 2.7 billion KRW (2 million USD) in salary last year alone. Despite that, she attempted to take NewJeans and harm ADOR’s corporate value. However, she calculated the value of her shares as if she were still part of ADOR and NewJeans was included,"
"Because she violated the contract and triggered the call option, her put option is invalid." HYBE
This whole saga began in April 2023 when HYBE started an internal audit accusing Min Hee Jin and ADOR executives of breach of trust and attempting a corporate takeover. Meanwhile, Min Hee Jin claimed the real issue was HYBE’s plagiarism of NewJeans’ concept by other HYBE labels.
The dispute ultimately led to HYBE dismissing Min Hee Jin as ADOR CEO on August 27, 2023.
The next court date set for September 11 promises to shed more light on whether Min Hee Jin can back her claims or if HYBE will prove her efforts to “take” NewJeans. Fans and industry insiders are closely watching this legal battle unfold.