On May 17 at 10:45 AM KST, the 50th civil court case division of the Seoul Central District Court convened for a hearing in the ongoing legal dispute between HYBE Labels and CEO Min Hee Jin of ADOR. The lawsuit, filed by Min Hee Jin against HYBE, requests that the court ban HYBE from exercising its voting rights at ADOR's scheduled extraordinary shareholder's meeting later this month.
During this hearing, a legal representative of Kim & Chang Law Firm appeared on behalf of HYBE, while a representative of Sejong Law Firm appeared on behalf of Min Hee Jin.
First, HYBE's representative responded to Min Hee Jin's claims that her contract with HYBE was a "slave contract". HYBE stated, "We accommodated every request made by Min as best as possible and supported ADOR to the fullest. We invested in ADOR when no one else did. In an unprecedented move, ADOR was given over 100 billion KRW in funds. The clause banning her activities with competitor businesses simply follows industry standards, and was meant to ensure extended collaboration between the two sides."
Next, HYBE's side also claimed that Min Hee Jin's image as "the mother of NewJeans" was a facade. "The creditor's interests lie in the money that NewJeans makes, not NewJeans themselves," the HYBE rep began, before adding on, "Min Hee Jin has made remarks in the past such as, 'It's hard to treat the members of NewJeans like artists. It's unbearable that I have to pick up after them'. She also said, 'I was the reason NewJeans succeeded'. Min Hee Jin also required the NewJeans members to say exactly what she wrote in a script during interviews. She is gaslighting the NewJeans members so that they remain obedient, and is framing this as a 'mother-daughter' relationship."
On the other hand, Min Hee Jin's side stated on this day, "The NewJeans members themselves wish to continue working with Min Hee Jin. To them, Min Hee Jin's role is essential. This is something that the fans have acknowledged as well."
The rep continued, "It's only natural that the NewJeans members are gripped with fear when HYBE wishes to send them on a 'long vacation'. Min Hee Jin's removal from ADOR will ultimately result in irreparable damages not only to Min Hee Jin, but to ADOR and NewJeans."
It's believed that the court will make a decision regarding this case by the scheduled shareholder's meeting on May 31 KST. If the court rules in favor of Min Hee Jin, HYBE will lose its ability to vote for Min's removal as CEO of ADOR. If the court rules in favor of HYBE, Min Hee Jin will likely be removed from her position.
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I was super confused before because I thought it was HYBE's board that was meeting to vote if they could fire the CEO of a subsidiary. But it makes sense that its Ador's board. So presumably HYBE has 80% of the board members in Ador. Even if MHJ successfully thwarts the emergency meeting, she'll still be out at the annual shareholders meeting. Her dismissal is inevitable.
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