Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Ador, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District on Sept. 11. Yonhap
Min Hee-jin, former chief executive of NewJeans’ agency, Ador, gave more than five hours of emotional testimony in court on Thursday as she and HYBE press on with their bitter legal dispute over a put option valued at roughly 26 billion won ($20 million).
Min accused HYBE, the parent company of Ador, of undermining her work with NewJeans and said she never imagined the company would betray her.
The Seoul Central District Court’s civil division held the third hearing in the case concerning Min’s attempt to invalidate the termination of the shareholders’ agreement with HYBE, as well as her demand that the company honor the put option.
Min, who took the stand, broke down in tears at several points during the session.
Min described herself as “someone who values reputation and creative quality more than money,” adding that HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had initially insisted she start Ador with zero equity in exchange for receiving trainees.
She said she ultimately agreed to stock options instead and stressed that she did not enter the shareholders’ agreement for financial gain.
Former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin / Xportsnews
Min claimed HYBE’s internal hostility toward NewJeans grew soon after the group’s rapid success. She said the public relations team failed to properly promote the group’s achievements and that the advertising team tried to divert high-profile commercial offers to other labels. She also said HYBE’s intellectual property and concert teams clashed with her and criticized Ador as “difficult to work with.”
Min recounted hearing that, before the debuts of Le Sserafim and NewJeans, some HYBE label heads discussed which team should succeed, claiming a senior executive said Le Sserafim “must” succeed for the sake of company discipline. She said another executive privately warned her to “be careful” due to jealousy and resistance.
Min said that she signed the shareholders’ agreement because she needed independence and a voice for her label, adding that former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won had also expressed dissatisfaction with the company.
“I never imagined Park would betray me,” she said. She described the agreement’s non-compete clause as “a ridiculous slave contract,” saying she trusted it would not be used against her.
Regarding allegations that she sought to negotiate a higher multiplier for the put option — raising it from 13 times to 30 times — Min said she did not make that request herself. “My lawyer handled the negotiations. I even said [that] 13 times was fine. I did it for the work, not the money,” she said.
Min also denied HYBE’s accusations that she plotted to separate Ador or conspired with external parties. She dismissed a private messaging exchange — interpreted by HYBE as an attempt to take NewJeans out of the company — as “HYBE’s wild fiction.” She said the comments were taken out of context from a casual conversation intended to vent frustration.
“It is absurd [that] this turned into a legal accusation,” she said. “Saying something in a chat is not the same as committing a crime. That is not how the world works.”
Min strongly rejected the idea that ending NewJeans’ contract would benefit her. “Why would I gain from that? If I had stayed quiet, I could have simply exercised the put option. I stayed because of responsibility, even though HYBE made life miserable,” she said.
She also criticized HYBE’s decision to remove her as Ador CEO last year. “What company fires a subsidiary CEO just ten days after the team fills the Tokyo Dome for an exceptional fan meeting? It made no sense,” she said, adding that internal audits and pressure from HYBE’s HR team had intensified before her dismissal.
K-pop girl group NewJeans / Xportsnews
Min said she eventually chose to leave despite the financial loss, noting that enduring the tiresome situation for three more months would have increased her payout. “Every day at that company felt like hell, but I stayed because of NewJeans. I believed in them and had songs ready to take them global.”
She said she had no role in NewJeans’ termination of their exclusive contract with Ador, claiming she was only informed after the parents decided. “I clearly told them I had no authority to advise contract termination,” she said.
The court is scheduled to conclude hearings on Dec. 18. NewJeans, who lost their first case seeking to void the exclusive contract, have expressed intent to return to Ador. Min has since launched a new label, OOAK (One of A Kind).
This article from Xportsnews is translated by generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.