Person in Charge and Min Hee-jin Denied Involvement in NewJeans’ Hanni’s National Assembly Appearance, “I am Owed an Apology”
The person who filed the complaint regarding Hanni’s workplace bullying case has recently responded to an article alleging that former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin instigated member Hanni’s complaint to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. According to this person, they has no connection to former CEO Min, New Jeans, or HYBE.
In particular, this person told media outlet Sports Kyunghyang on January 16, “I wonder if the article’s repeated mention of ‘complaint’ was intended to forcibly highlight the connection with former CEO Min,” and “filing a complaint to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and disclosing the full response was a legitimate action to protect the people’s right to know.”
They continued, “Given that the (Ministry of Labor) response was very unfavorable to former CEO Min and Hamni, the media report in question has lost its logical validity.”
Meanwhile, earlier on the same day, news outlet Chosun Biz reported on a Telegram conversation between A, a family member of a NewJeans member, and Min Hee-jin.
According to the report, on September 14 last year, A sent Min a message saying “The labor ministry has started, please call me“, to which Min responded, “I’m currently getting an IV drip. I’ll call you in the afternoon.“
The conversation reportedly took place shortly after Hanni revealed that she had been subjected to workplace bullying, leading fans to file complaints with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
Particularly, during a YouTube live broadcast, Hanni shared that she had been told “Ignore her” by a manager from another group at HYBE’s building. This incident spurred many fans to file petitions with the labor ministry.
Min Hee-jin swiftly refuted the allegations that she was involved in instigating Hanni’s claims, sharing text messages exchanged with the reporter from Chosun Biz on her SNS to clarify her stance.
In this conversation, Min said, “I do not know any government officials involved in this matter, nor have I ever directed or requested anything. The claims made are entirely false and speculative fiction. The communication in question came unexpectedly from the uncle, and as can be seen from the conversation logs, there is no relevant discussion on the mentioned date. Furthermore, conversations before and after the date in question also show that I was not the one initiating the discussion; rather, I was on the receiving end of suggestions.”
She further added, “Intentionally writing the article to make it seem as though I am a party of suspicion is a severe breach of journalistic ethics. Wouldn’t it be proper to verify the facts with me before publishing such an article?”
Min demanded, “The article should be deleted, and I believe I am owed an apology.”
