ADOR Drops Evidence that Min Hee-jin was Behind NewJeans’ Contract Termination
As ADOR and NewJeans remain embroiled in a legal battle over the termination of their exclusive contract, tampering (the act of a 3rd party contacting artists still under contract with an agency) was one of the major allegations at stake. Now, various evidence regarding Min Hee-jin’s tampering while NewJeans’ (NJZ) is under ADOR has been released.
In particular, according to the oral arguments submitted by ADOR on March 11 for their injunction case against NewJeans members, it was confirmed that former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and her legal representatives from Sejong participated in the process of notifying ADOR of the contract termination on November 29, 2024.
The metadata of the termination notice file, created as an Adobe PDF, showed that the document was authored by Sejong, the law firm representing former CEO Min at the time. The company’s English name, S&K, was also visible, suggesting that the document was created using a corporate account. Additionally, on November 28, the day before the notice was sent, NewJeans held a press conference to abruptly announce their contract termination, stating at the time that they had not yet hired a legal representative.
However, ADOR claims that tampering had been at play throughout the events leading up to the contract termination. ADOR also submitted additional evidence, including KakaoTalk messages and emails from Min’s phone, and pointed out that statements from a prior legal case between Min and ADOR in May 2024 were copied verbatim.
Regarding their argument, ADOR insisted that termination or cancellation of an exclusive contract is only valid if a significant contractual obligation has been violated, but it did not breach any major contractual obligations, so the termination notice is unjustified. Meanwhile, NewJeans claims that a breakdown in trust is sufficient grounds for termination.
The industry is closely watching how tampering allegations will affect this dispute. Recently, five major music industry organizations—the Korea Management Union, Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association, Korea Music Label Industry Association, Korea Record Industry Association, and Korea Music Content Association—issued a statement warning that if tampering is allowed to succeed, it could undermine K-pop’s management system and lead to foreign capital taking over the industry. They urged the government and the National Assembly to take action to prevent tampering.
The court will conclude hearings by March 14 and decide on the injunction afterward. It has also requested that necessary evidence and documents be submitted by that date and asked NewJeans to provide a revised list of their reasons for terminating the contract.
The first trial hearing for ADOR’s lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract is scheduled for April 3.
