HYBE Labels subsidiary ADOR has issued an official statement on behalf of CEO Min Hee Jin and its employees, addressing each issue and accusation made by HYBE.

Previously, HYBE Labels proceeded with an internal audit after claiming that Min Hee Jin attempted to "steal" ADOR and NewJeans, demanding the CEO's resignation from ADOR. 

Read ADOR's statement below:

"We would like to provide an accurate account regarding HYBE's claims.

It is with deep regret that once again, during this crucial timing of NewJeans' new music release, we find ourselves addressing matters unrelated to the artists.

On numerous occasions, ADOR has requested that HYBE refrain from spreading issues unrelated to the artists through the media, in order to protect the value of NewJeans' efforts. Despite HYBE's statement that it would not refute Min Hee Jin's press conference, it resumed rebuttals through the media less than a day later, which is deeply disappointing.

Even as HYBE continued its rebuttals, ADOR chose not to respond in order to avoid hindering the artists' activities and to protect them. However, the continued exacerbation of unconfirmed issues has caused severe confusion among the public; therefore, ADOR wishes to clarify the current controversies.

1. On Allegations of Usurping Management:

HYBE's accusations of attempted "usurping of management rights" are groundless. There was no intention to seize control of the company in any content revealed by HYBE and claimed as evidence, rather, the content was the result of 'imagination' arising from the continued conflict with HYBE. We affirm that there is no further evidence of any concrete plans to seize control of ADOR, nor did we take any action to fulfill such plans.

Once the audit began and the public opinion turned hostile, the vice president began visiting key executives at HYBE to request an end to the one-sided attacks out of concern for Min Hee Jin's safety. The HYBE executives instead responded that this was no time for the vice president to be concerned for Min Hee Jin, and said, 'If there is a lawsuit, how will you manage the high cost of the damages when you're cut off as a loose end?', 'Think of your family', pressuring the vice president to cooperate. The vice president was coerced into signing an information provision consent form by being told, 'If you cooperate, there will be no issues'. Then, the next day, the contents of the vice president's KakaoTalk messages were leaked to the press, constituting a serious invasion of privacy and violation of human rights.

Recently, Min Hee Jin's legal representative has confirmed with the Yonsan Police Station that the vice president, who gave his consent to cooperate, was exempt from the list of the accused. 

HYBE intentionally presented content which was distorted to make it seem as if the purpose behind the conversations was the acquisition of management rights, without providing the full context in which the conversations occurred. The comment by Min Hee Jin, 'This should be a private conversation,' was also clipped and attached to the conversation, although she did not use it originally for the specific conversation in question. 

2. On Financial Compensation:

First, Min Hee Jin stated during the press conference that an incentive, not her salary, amounted to 20 billion won, reflecting the 335 billion won operating profit achieved by ADOR within two years.

As mentioned during the press conference, the issue raised regarding the incentive was not about the amount itself but about the transparency of the incentive determination criteria and the process. Min Hee Jin believed that HYBE incentive computation criteria were unclear, and there was a lack of clear explanation regarding the incentive computation process.

Distorting the facts and publicly revealing Min Hee Jin's salary, incentives, and stock rewards to obscure the issue is an attempt by HYBE to frame Min Hee Jin as someone acting out of financial greed.

3. On the Internal Whistleblower and the Audit Process: 

It was claimed that president Park Ji Won of HYBE responded to an email from an internal whistleblower on April 22 at 10 AM. At the same time, the audit process began, with the vice president's laptop being confiscated. Additionally, HYBE sent a letter demanding Min Hee Jin's resignation and calling on a shareholders' meeting. Just a few hours later, news articles reported HYBE's sudden exercise of its auditing rights against ADOR's management.

Subsequently, the next day, HYBE continued its aggressive media campaign in real-time against ADOR's executives. We would like to ask HYBE: What was the response sent to the internal whistleblower's email?

Moreover, what justifies a listed company's decision to reveal and distort the contents of an internal audit process publicly, akin to live broadcasting, especially when the comeback of one of its label artists was imminent?

The exercise of auditing rights at such a critical time severely hindered the activities of Min Hee Jin and the employees of ADOR, who were tirelessly preparing for NewJeans' comeback day and night. Despite HYBE's claim that it immediately provided new laptops and ensured no disruption to work through efficient downloading existing data, this is untrue, as the vice presidents' laptops were confiscated without even allowing for time to download work data. The process of confiscation itself was also unreasonable.

4. On HYBE's Promise to Make NewJeans the First HYBE Girl Group:

Since the launch of the 'Plus Global Auditions', HYBE has widely marketed NewJeans as the Min Hee Jin girl group and the first HYBE girl group. This fact is remembered by the parents of the NewJeans members and the employees of ADOR. However, with the recruitment of Sakura and Kim Chaewon, LE SSERAFIM became HYBE's first girl group, breaking the promise of debuting NewJeans as the first HYBE girl group. Despite this truth, HYBE continues to shamelessly deny it. At the time, Min Hee Jin gave up her shares in HYBE to request that a separate label be created, and she went head to head against various disputes in order to bring the members of NewJeans to ADOR and launch them as NewJeans.

It is regrettable that despite the truth about NewJeans' debut process, HYBE continues to lie about the delay in the group's launch, arguing that 'NewJeans' debut was delayed against HYBE's wishes due to the division of the work force and the time required to process the transferring of contracts'.

5. On Instructions Received to Not Promote NewJeans upon their Debut:

HYBE claimed there were concerns about exposing details of Sakura joining Source Music and of the lineup of the NewJeans members. However, this claim is illogical and unsubstantiated.

HYBE insisted that 'the promotion period was minimized due to the close debuting time frames of the two teams, which did not provide either teams with much time for promotions'. However, there were no such negotiations in the first place. HYBE wished to bait people into thinking that LE SSERAFIM would be the Min Hee Jin girl group, and so president Park Ji Won explicitly requested through phone calls and SNS messages with Min Hee Jin that her group, NewJeans, was not promoted. These facts can be verified in chat logs between Park Ji Won and Min Hee Jin, and yet, HYBE continues to come up with one excuse after another, each more unrelated than the last. 

6. On the Assertion That There Was No Slave Contract:

Min Hee Jin does not deny the necessity of non-competition clauses in and of themselves. As the head of an entertainment company, she understands that the prohibition of any engagement in competing businesses during employment and for a certain period thereafter is reasonable. However, the requirements of the non-competition clause outlined in the current shareholders' contract specifically referring to the prohibited activities and the time frame, are unreasonable.

Contrary to HYBE's official statement on April 25, its subsequent rebuttal on April 26 was aimed at attributing responsibility to Min Hee Jin for informing about the shareholders' agreement, partially disclosing its contents. The current contract's unfairness lies in the fact that Min Hee Jin cannot be freed from the non-competition obligation until she completely disposes of her shares, which is an unfair situation that anyone would naturally seek to rectify. HYBE claims that it responded to Min Hee Jin's inquiry in December of last year with a reply that it would clarify ambiguous interpretations of the contract, but this content is not ambiguous to any legal expert, and Min Hee Jin continues to bear the obligation of non-competition until she obtains HYBE consent to dispose of all her shares. The reply about clarifying ambiguous terms was not received in December of last year, but in mid-March of this year.

7. On Subsequent Reports Related to Shareholder Contracts:

After HYBE's rebuttal statement, numerous subsequent reports spread by HYBE through the media are riddled with speculation and distortion regarding shareholder contracts. To correct further misunderstandings, we provide the following information.

HYBE is trying to deceive by claiming that Min Hee Jin demanded a 30-fold increase regarding the put stock options, making it seem like the current conflict stems from financial motives. However, the 30-fold increase was a proposal made during the process of revising various unreasonable elements of the shareholder agreement to reflect the future value of creating a boy group, and it was not even a prioritized item in the negotiations.

Additionally, in March of last year, HYBE promised Min Hee Jin an additional 10% stake in ADOR as stock options upon signing the stock trading and shareholder agreements. However, a legal consultation revealed that stock options cannot be granted to Min Hee Jin as a major shareholder under corporate laws. These stock options were neither requested by Min Hee Jin nor were they her proposal; they were suggested by HYBE. Min Hee Jin could not shake off the perception that she was deceived. It was a matter of 'trust'.

HYBE claims that it proposed lifting the non-competition obligation, and that Min Hee Jin rejected it, which is not true. HYBE proposed that Min He Jin serve a mandatory term of eight years and then bear the non-competition obligation for one year after retirement, and the put options would be exercised gradually during this period. However, while these negotiations were taking place, the issue of ILLIT arose and persists to this day. Until this day, Min Hee Jin has not conveyed her position regarding HYBE's last contract proposal. It's not true that Min Hee Jin rejected the offer. 

8. On Insisting That The Shaman Is Only an Acquaintance:

The success of NewJeans and ADOR's remarkable achievements in a short period of time are based on rational management decisions. It seems that HYBE wishes to construct a frame aimed at belittling and discrediting ADOR's success. 

ADOR witnessed an increase in sales and operating profits because it prevented unnecessary spending, managed budgets efficiently, and strived to enhance the company's brand image. If it were possible to earn this kind of success through other means, than why did Min Hee Jin and the employees of ADOR work so tirelessly day and night?

It is pathetic to see a company such as HYBE, which should be a leader in the K-Pop industry, attempting to frame personal attacks unrelated to the issues at hand, and just before Min Hee Jin's press conference, at that. 

9. On Whether or Not HYBE Values NewJeans:

It was HYBE who publicized the internal dispute to the press on April 22, along with an unwarned exercise of its auditing rights, when the audit results were far from being ready. HYBE exposed this issue when NewJeans' comeback was imminent, making claims poorly supported by evidence, such as 'illegal seizure of management rights' without even attempting to understand ADOR's position internally.

HYBE claims to have suggested 'not mentioning artists'. If they thought that bringing out problems that could be resolved internally and attacking CEO Min Hee Jin and ADOR would not affect NewJeans' brand value, it is an utter misunderstanding of how management should be, and can be considered nothing more than a fallacy to cover up their poor decision-making skills. 

We hope the above will be helpful in clearing up any further speculation and misunderstandings.

On April 16, CEO Min Hee Jin pointed out various issues and conducted an internal assessment, stating, 'HYBE lacks the preparation, understanding, and attitude to run on a multi-label system.' It was a direct observation made upon Chairman Bang Si Hyuk's guidelines, 'Speak up with dissent and opinion when faced with absurdity and irrationality,' but her remarks have now turned against her and into an extreme situation with allegations of 'professional malpractice'.

For now as well as in the future, ADOR will spare no effort in supporting NewJeans' activities. If HYBE truly wants to protect intellectual property and genuinely considers the interests of the shareholders, we hope that it will cease the unconvincing black propaganda and demonstrate a rational approach by supporting ADOR so that we can fully focus on creativity."

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