From reinstatement of Min Hee-jin to official apology: List of NewJeans’ reported ultimatum to ADOR revealed

On November 14, 2024, IS PLUS News reported details of NewJeans' letter to ADOR and HYBE, sent on November 13, demanding contract termination if their issues weren't addressed.

According to IS PLUS News, the content included suing individuals who violated the group's directive and providing the group with an audit report on the same. It also included demanding an apology from the HYBE manager who had allegedly told another group to "ignore" Hanni.

Significantly, they demanded reinstating Min Hee-jin as ADOR's CEO and taking charge of the "management" like before.

"Let (former) CEO Min Hee-jin take charge of ADOR's management and NewJeans’ production like before. Return ADOR to the time when NewJeans was happy and joyful after signing an exclusive contract until March 2024."

The girl group issued a 14-day ultimatum to both ADOR and HYBE.

Here is the full list of demands:

• Determine exactly who made the decision and issued the directive to discard NewJeans, ADOR's only artist, as well as who violated the directive. If any breach of trust or other unlawful activity is found throughout the process, pursue civil and criminal action against the offending parties.
• Provide NewJeans with an audit report and a personnel action report pertaining to each of these issues.
• The management who instructed Hani to "ignore" should formally apologize.
• Remove any images, movies, and other content that was utilized without permission.
• Determine the harm that the "album push" caused to New Jeans and devise remedies.
• Address the conflict with Dolphin Kidnapping Team director Shin Woo-seok and the resulting loss of previous works.
• Preserve the distinctive color and design of NewJeans.

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ADOR reveals receiving the certified letter of demand from NewJeans and issues a statement

The girl group's certified letter was signed by all five members: Minji, Danielle, Hanni, Haerin, and Hyein. This comes in the wake of the ongoing feud between HYBE and Min Hee-jin when the parent company accused her of a breach of contract in April 2024.

Min Hee-jin reportedly conspired to take over ADOR and crash HYBE's stocks in the market. Following this, in August 2024, she was replaced as the label's CEO and was succeeded by Kim Joo-young. However, Min Hee-jin filed an injunction at the Seoul Central District Court on September 13, to get re-appointed as the label's CEO.

Although her injunction was rejected by the court on October 29, 2024, the label was hit with NewJeans' certified letter. On November 13, 2024, JoyNews24 reported that the HYBE subsidiary label, ADOR, stated that they hadn't received the letter yet.

A day later, they announced receiving the letter and said that they had been reviewing the letter's content. On November 14, 2024, ADOR announced that they would do their "best to resolve this wisely."

"Regarding the content certification, we received it this morning and are currently reviewing it. We are understanding the specific requests and will do our best to resolve this wisely, so we can continue working with the artists."

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Currently, HYBE has been facing another controversy after its internal 'Industry Trends Report' was leaked. The report was exposed by a minister from the Democratic Party of Korea during the National Assembly Audit on October 24, 2024. HYBE was criticized for creating a report containing defamatory and demeaning comments on other rival K-pop groups.