According to a story published by the South Korean media site Dispatch on December 2, 2024, Min Hee Jin, the former CEO of ADOR, exploited NewJeans as a springboard for her personal ambitions. According to the site, Min Hee Jin herself planned several significant events, including as a live broadcast in which NewJeans members demanded Min Hee Jin’s reinstatement and Hanni’s involvement in a National Assembly audit.
It also asserted that Min Hee Jin had conversations with representatives of another firm when she was a director at ADOR, suggesting that she may have engaged in “tampering” by looking for outside investors to get NewJeans to support her objectives.
In response to the news, representatives of Min Hee Jin lodged a complaint against dispatch reporters at the Yongsan Police Station. Citing alleged intrusive conduct pertaining to information and communications networks, the complaint charges them with violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
In order to address their worries regarding their future with ADOR and HYBE, NewJeans called an emergency press conference on November 28, 2024. Citing the company’s inability to satisfy their requests, the group members formally announced their intention to leave. ADOR had previously received a legal notice from NewJeans requiring the company to resolve serious violations of their exclusive contracts within 14 days. The organization threatened to terminate their contracts if they did not comply with their demands.
The members disclosed during the press conference that HYBE and ADOR seemed unwilling to carry out reforms or take their complaints into consideration, and that the rectification time concluded at midnight on November 28, 2024. On November 29, 2024, at 12 AM KST, Minji said that NewJeans’ exclusive relationship with ADOR will formally end.
