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NJZ aka NewJeans faces criticism from Korea Music Copyright Association Secretary General Choi Gwang-ho for their recent interview with an overseas media outlet. On March 24, 2025, Choi Gwang-ho in an interview with Sports Today condemned the girl group members' comments regarding reportedly presenting their lawsuit with ADOR as a Korean entertainment industry issue and not a bilateral legal battle.
He said,
"When NewJeans members are interviewed by the foreign press, they talk about the issues between the two parties as music industry or Korean issues. As I've said many times, during our press conferences, them and their fans told us that the association should not intervene because it is a matter of lawsuit between the two parties. If this continues to be perceived as an industry issue and is dealt with in the National Assembly or other places, I think the association will have to respond."
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He added about the K-pop girl group's recent interview. Although he did not mention the media outlet, the excerpts were reported to be from the interview with TIME magazine on March 21, 2025.
He said,
"I hope that this is a bilateral issue and does not spread or expand into an industrial issue. Looking at the content of the recent interview, it is dangerous to talk about it as if it is not simply a bilateral issue but rather an issue for Korea as a whole, beyond the industry. I am also concerned that foreign media outlets are only extracting one side's argument in the form of an interview."
NJZ (NewJeans) expresses disappointment in the court's ruling over ADOR's injunction
NewJeans is currently in a legal battle with its agency ADOR. The group announced its contract termination with ADOR in November 2024, citing an alleged breach of contract as the reason.
In January 2024, ADOR filed an injunction against the girl group to prevent them from signing advertisement contracts with third parties without ADOR's consent. In February 2025, the five-member group rebranded themselves as NJZ.
On March 21, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of ADOR, forbidding NJZ to move forward with independent activities. The same day, Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein sat for an interview with TIME to express their disappointment in the court's decision.
They said,
"Compared to everything we’ve been through so far, this is just another step in our journey. Maybe this is just the current reality in Korea. But that’s exactly why we believe change and growth are necessary. It almost feels like Korea wants to turn us into revolutionaries.”
Notably, the girl group was reportedly granted permission from ADOR to perform at the ComplexCon festival in Hong Kong, with their original name NewJeans. On March 23, the girls performed at the festival and debuted their new song Pit Stop. However, they reportedly announced their hiatus without consent from ADOR.
On March 24, 2025, NJZ filed an objection against the court's injunction rulings which prohibited them from exhibiting independent activities. Previously, on December 5, 2024, HYBE's subsidiary label filed a lawsuit against NewJeans to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract. This was in response to the girl group's unilateral termination through a press conference on November 28, 2024.
Meanwhile, the first trial of NewJeans and ADOR's contract validity case is scheduled to be held on April 3, 2025.
