On March 11, 2025, Chosun Ilbo reported that Min Hee-jin is suspected of being involved with NewJeans'—now known as NJZ—announcement of contract termination with ADOR.
According to the latest report, Min Hee-jin and her legal representative, Sejong Law Firm, were allegedly involved when the girl group notified ADOR of nullifying their group contract with them on November 29, 2024. Furthermore, Sejong Law Firm reportedly created and marked the notification document sent to the HYBE subsidiary.
This further complicates the ongoing lawsuits between ADOR and NJZ, as Min Hee-jin officially resigned from the label on November 20, 2024. Hence, her contacting any members of the girl group outside ADOR's consent could lead to a breach. This is also seen as illegal tampering.
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Chosun Ilbo reported that Sejong Law Firm's English name, "S&K," was mentioned as the author of the document. Additionally, the document was sent in November 2024, while NJZ announced appointing Sejong Law Firm as their legal representative in January 2025.
All this evidence was presented by ADOR during their first injunction hearing on March 7, 2025, at the Seoul Central District Court. Additionally, the label submitted KakaoTalk chat screenshots of Min Hee-jin that showed that her statements from May 2024 matched with NJZ's quotes from November 2024.
If the court considers this evidence factual, it will impact the injunction verdict, leading to ADOR's victory. Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Court ordered the girl group to resubmit their reasons for terminating their contract with ADOR.
NJZ vs. ADOR background: Contract termination and rebranding
NewJeans, a five-member girl group under ADOR (a HYBE subsidiary), debuted in July 2022 with their EP NewJeans. Their hits include Hype Boy, Attention, Ditto, ETA, and OMG.
In April 2024, HYBE accused ADOR's CEO, Min Hee-jin, of attempting to take over the label and NewJeans. Min denied this and accused HYBE of allowing ILLIT, another HYBE group, to copy NewJeans' concept and style.
The situation further escalated when HYBE reported Min Hee-jin to the police for "breach of trust," claiming there was evidence from the audit showing her trying to usurp control of ADOR.
Min Hee-jin denied the allegations in an emergency press conference on April 25, 2024, and accused HYBE of fabricating evidence and disregarding her complaints about how NewJeans was treated.
The members of NewJeans reacted to the situation by requesting Min Hee-jin's reinstatement after ADOR removed her as CEO on August 27, 2024. They claimed to feel unsafe under ADOR's new management, Kim Joo-young. They also claimed workplace harassment and alleged that their private information from their trainee days was leaked.
NewJeans (NJZ) issued an ultimatum to HYBE's chairman, Bang Si-Hyuk, to reinstate Min Hee-jin by September 25, which was subsequently rejected. Following this, the South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor cleared the company of workplace bullying allegations.
On November 28, 2024, the five members announced the termination of their exclusive contracts with ADOR, citing alleged violations of contract clauses, including inadequate artist protection. They pledged to continue their careers together and fight for the rights to their group's name.
In response, ADOR refuted the allegations and stated that the members remained under contract obligations. The label filed a lawsuit against the group on December 3, 2024, to verify the contract validation.
In January 2025, ADOR filed an injunction to restrain them from independently engaging with advertisers and securing deals outside the label's discretion.
In February 2025, NewJeans rebranded themselves as NJZ and announced new performances at ComplexCon from March 21 to 23, 2025, and music under their new identity.
ADOR and NJZ's injunction will be concluded on March 14, 2025, at the Seoul Central District Court.
