Min Hee-Jin has won her injunction request against HYBE. On May 30, reports confirmed that the 50th Civil Affairs Division of the Seoul Central District Court ruled in her favour, allowing her to continue as the CEO of ADOR.
This ruling prevents HYBE from exercising its voting rights to dismiss Min Hee-Jin at the upcoming shareholders meeting on May 31.
HYBE’s Proposal Blocked
Without the injunction, HYBE could have used its 80% shareholder rights to force Min Hee-Jin out of her position as CEO of NewJeans’ label, ADOR.
HYBE had submitted her dismissal as a proposal for the shareholders meeting and nominated a new board of directors for ADOR. However, even if HYBE replaces the board, Min Hee-Jin is expected to face significant management challenges.
Netizens React to the Ruling
Netizens expressed relief and support for Min Hee-Jin:
- “I’m so relieved. Please stay with NewJeans for 100 years.”
- “HYBE was attacking her without any evidence.”
- “Those who said she had no chance of winning didn’t know what they were talking about. Min Hee-Jin didn’t win because of emotions. She won because of her contract.”
Min Hee-Jin’s Legal Team Speaks Out
After the court’s decision, Min Hee-Jin’s lawyers released a statement celebrating the victory.
“Hello.
This is ADOR CEO Min Hee-Jin’s legal representative, Sejong.
On April 22, 2024, HYBE requested a shareholder’s meeting in relation to terminating Min Hee-Jin, which will be held on May 31. However, this is a violation of the contract between Min Hee-Jin and HYBE, therefore on May 7, 2024, Min Hee-Jin filed an injunction to stop HYBE from using their shareholder’s rights.
On the afternoon of May 30, 2024, Seoul’s Central Court has ruled to grant the injunction. Therefore, HYBE will not be allowed to use their voting rights in the shareholder’s meeting held on May 31, 2024. If HYBE violates this and uses its rights to terminate Min Hee-Jin and ADOR’s executives, they will have to forfeit KRW 20.0 billion (about USD 14.6 million) to Min Hee-Jin.
Since the injunction on May 7, 2024, HYBE has submitted large amount of documents 11 times. Min Hee-Jin’s representatives responded to this by submitting documents 9 times in which we refuted each claim. Today, the court considered each side before making the decision to grant the injunction. This means the court ruled that HYBE’s reckless witch hunt through the media were not correct.
The focal argument in this case was that whether
1. HYBE can disregard the contract in which it states that HYBE will have to use their voting rights to ensure that Min Hee-Jin and ADOR’s executives will remain for 5 years, and
2. Whether HYBE had just cause to fire Min Hee-Jin.
The agreement to bind voting rights was agreed on by both HYBE and Min Hee-Jin, therefore it is only right that they abide by it. HYBE rejected this despite it being in clear writing. The court, however, ruled that the wording in the shareholder agreement was clear and ruled against HYBE’s argument.
As for whether HYBE had just cause to terminate Min Hee-Jin, despite all of the Kakao Talk conversations submitted by HYBE, the court also rejected HYBE’s argument. As such, HYBE has failed to prove there was just cause for her dismissal, and is the biggest reason why the injuction was granted.
Since HYBE’s illegal audit began on April 22, 2024, materials obtained illegally by HYBE were released to the public indiscriminately. However, these conversations were maliciously edited to spark a witch hunt against Min Hee-Jin. HYBE failed to provide any evidence to support their claims.
During the trial, these maliciously edited conversations were spread by third parties in the press, and even now, YouTubers and bloggers are editing the messages, which violates and defames Min Hee-Jin and ADOR executive’s private lives. To this, we are planning on taking legal action, so we ask you to take down these videos immediately.
Furthermore, we ask that HYBE accept and abide by the ruling for the injunction. If HYBE takes action to terminate Min Hee-Jin and ADOR’s executives, it would be a clear violation of the shareholder agreement. Also, as there are no grounds for Min Hee-Jin’s termination, there are no grounds to dismiss the two ADOR executives.
Therefore, if HYBE were to terminate them, this would mean HYBE has ignored the court’s ruling and has terminated them without just cause.
Thank you.“
— Min Hee-Jin’s legal representative, Sejong
ADOR Celebrates the Win
ADOR’s performance directors, Kim Eunju and Black Q, shared their joy on Instagram, and netizens celebrated the positive news for NewJeans and the company.
HYBE’s Response to the Court’s Ruling
HYBE released a statement following the court’s decision:
“This is HYBE. We will respect the court’s ruling granting Min Hee-Jin’s injunction and will not use our voting rights to vote in favor of terminating Min Hee-Jin at the upcoming shareholder’s meeting. Furthermore, we plan to proceed to take next steps within the bounds of the law, as the court stated in its decision that it is clear that Min Hee-Jin plotted to weaken HYBE’s control over ADOR by taking NewJeans and pressuring HYBE to sell its ADOR holdings, which would allow Min Hee-Jin to independently control ADOR.” — HYBE
Future Legal Battles?
This ruling may not be the end of Min Hee-Jin’s legal battle with HYBE. The conflict continues as both parties prepare for possible further legal action.