BTS member V has expressed discomfort after his private messages with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin were cited as evidence in a court ruling tied to her ongoing legal dispute with HYBE, with the company saying the singer never intended to support any of her claims.
On Feb. 20, V posted a screenshot of a news report on his personal social media account, addressing the disclosure of his KakaoTalk conversation with Min. He stressed that the exchange was part of a personal conversation between acquaintances and should not be interpreted as him taking sides.
“It was part of a private, everyday conversation shared in empathy because she was an acquaintance,” V said. “I had absolutely no intention of siding with either party. I am also very taken aback that this conversation was submitted as evidence without my consent.”
HYBE echoed the sentiment, cautioning against overinterpretation. “Because it was a private exchange with an acquaintance, he was simply responding in an empathetic way. It has been confirmed that he did not agree with any specific claims made by the other party,” a HYBE official told Xportsnews. “The artist also wanted to express dissatisfaction that private messages were submitted to court without his consent.”
The controversy stems from a first-instance ruling in the legal dispute between HYBE and Min, which reportedly referenced portions of a messenger conversation between the two. The ruling also addressed Min’s allegation that rookie girl group ILLIT had copied elements of HYBE labelmate NewJeans’ concept.
According to reports, the judgment cited a message V sent to Min at the time: “(There are always plagiarism claims; there’s never a time they don’t come up.) I also looked and thought, ‘This does seem similar.’”
This article from Xportsnews is adapted by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.