On the 27th, the 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court will hold the third hearing for the 2.5 billion KRW (approximately $2.1 million USD) damages lawsuit filed by HYBE Labels against Min Hee-jin.
During the second hearing on May 30, Source Music, a subsidiary of HYBE, prepared a 20-minute presentation. However, the hearing was adjourned after Min Hee-jin's side claimed that the KakaoTalk messages included in the presentation were obtained illegally. The two parties are in conflict over the legality of the message collection process, prompting the court to reschedule the hearing.
In April of last year, Min Hee-jin publicly stated that she personally cast the members of NewJeans and intended to debut them as HYBE's first girl group, but the agreement was unilaterally broken. She also claimed that Source Music neglected the members.
In response, Source Music countered that Min's claims were false and argued that her statements led to rumors labeling LE SSERAFIM as a 'privileged girl group,' resulting in malicious comments and other damages.
Consequently, Source Music filed a damages lawsuit against Min Hee-jin for 500 million KRW (approximately $420,000 USD), and Belift Lab added another lawsuit for 2 billion KRW (approximately $1.7 million USD).
Meanwhile, on the 17th, the Seoul High Court's Civil Division 25-2 dismissed an appeal by the five members of NewJeans against an injunction prohibiting independent activities. As the members did not re-appeal, they are now unable to engage in entertainment activities or sign advertising contracts without ADOR's consent, effectively banning all independent activities.
Additionally, on April 29, the court accepted ADOR's request for indirect enforcement against NewJeans, ruling that if the group engages in independent activities without ADOR's prior approval, each member must pay 1 billion KRW (approximately $840,000 USD) per violation to ADOR.
Reported by Ji-ye Choi, TenAsia wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr