Min Hee-jin, circumstances under pressure on HYBE using New Jeans parents

Evidence has emerged that Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore, directly intervened in the written opinion containing complaints from parents of the group New Jeans.

On the 21st, a media outlet revealed the contents of a conversation between New Genes parents, showing that there was proxy writing and direct censorship on CEO Min's side in the background of the protest letter they delivered to HYBE early last month.

According to the conversation, in the process of reviewing the opinions of parents of New Jeans, CEO Min said to Vice President Lee, "(New Jeans) can actively take advantage of the fact that mothers have not signed a contract with HYBE," and "Is there anything with HYBE in the exclusive contract?" he asked. Vice-CEO Lee said, "There is nothing related to HYBE. The other parties to the contract are Adore and Artist," and CEO Min responded, "Hehe. Is there any clause worth raising an objection to?" Representative Min also said, “Are you writing this from the perspective of mothers?” and “I need to think about the tone of delivery.”

In addition, CEO Min's Luance attempt to manipulate New Jeans mothers was caught. In the conversation, CEO Min said, "It's mothers who report to the Fair Trade Commission. It's a bit different for subsidiaries to report," and "It's better for mothers to criticize. The fact that mothers report themselves also reveals their innocence. If the subsidiary reports, there will be an argument about fraudulent activities, etc. He also said, “I can feel so nervous.”

In relation to this, HYBE believes that CEO Min packaged his claims and opinions as mothers' opinions and delivered them to HYBE and Belif Lab on April 3 in order to put pressure on HYBE. At the time of the preliminary injunction lawsuit held on the 17th, HYBE's legal representative, Kim & Jang, said, "CEO Min instructed that New Genes' parents should express their dissatisfaction first because if he or Adore raised an issue, violation of the contract between shareholders would become an issue, so he only pursued his goal. He raised his voice, saying, “I used New Genes and its parents just to achieve achievement.”

In relation to this, Min Hee-jin's side Sejong countered with regard to the evidentiary value of the conversation content, saying, "We do not agree because it was pieced together without the consent of CEO Min Hee-jin or the consent of Vice President Lee," and Kim & Jang responded, "We do not agree with KakaoTalk, which is decisive evidence. “(The parties) agreed to (provide) information, so the audit was conducted legally,” he emphasized.

Previously, New Jeans' parents claimed that New Jeans had imitated the girl group Eyelet of Belif Lab, a label under HYBE, claiming that the concept, styling, and choreography were similar, and asked, "New Jeans' reputation and brand value will be damaged, so please take corrective action." I sent an email with the following content:

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr