“Not an easy fight”

While Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore, filed a request for a temporary injunction against HYBE from exercising voting rights, the legal community believes that “the probability of it being cited is not high.”

According to the legal community on the 8th, the 50th Civil Affairs Division of the Seoul Central District Court (B) is scheduled to hold a hearing on the 17th on the lawsuit for a provisional injunction to ban the exercise of voting rights filed by CEO Min Hee-jin against HYBE.

According to Shin & Kim Law Firm, which served as Adore's legal representative, on the 7th, Adore applied for a preliminary injunction against HYBE from the exercise of voting rights at the Seoul Central District Court.

Law Firm Sejong raised its voice, saying, "HYBE requested the convening of an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders regarding the dismissal of CEO and executive director Min Hee-jin. This is a violation of the shareholder agreement."

Sejong continued, "CEO Hee-jin Min applied for a provisional disposition to prohibit the exercise of voting rights against HYBE, using the right to claim fulfillment of the shareholder contract as a protected right, to the effect that he should not exercise his voting rights in favor of the dismissal of CEO and executive director Min. He explained, "We are of the position that HYBE's claim of breach of trust is absurd, and in order to protect the corporate value of Adore's artists (New Genes) and Adore, we have applied for an injunction to prohibit the exercise of voting rights."

In addition, CEO Min Hee-jin and Adore's board of directors are planning to hold a board meeting with the agenda of convening an extraordinary shareholders' meeting somewhere in downtown Seoul at 9 a.m. on the 10th. Currently, Adore's board of directors consists of CEO Min, Vice President (VP) Shin, and Chief Creative Director Kim.

Accordingly, the industry is paying close attention to what decision the court will make on CEO Min's request for a preliminary injunction on the 17th.

In relation to this, on the 8th, Noh Jong-eon, the CEO of the law firm Geoseom Law Firm, told Ten Asia, “Because the exercise of opinion rights is the right of shareholders, I do not think the probability of the request for a temporary injunction being cited is high.” He added, “Representative Min’s side is accused of malfeasance in business, which is the background to this request for a temporary injunction.” “We have to prove that the charges are unfounded, but it will not be an easy fight,” he said.

At the same time, he said, "Even if the possibility of citation is not high, Representative Min's request for a preliminary injunction may be an attempt to appeal that HYBE's claim of breach of trust is not valid." Attorney Noh continued, "But that does not mean that the possibility is 0%. It can be cited." He added, "We have proven that CEO Min is not suspected of breach of trust in business, and furthermore, the argument that CEO Min's dismissal proposal at the general shareholders' meeting is unreasonable is accepted. “It will be cited in print,” he added.

As a result, the scenario of HYBE's dismissal of CEO Min, which was expected to take place within about a month, has become a variable. If the court decides to reject CEO Min's application and accepts HYBE's application for permission to hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, HYBE, which owns 80% of the shares, can pass a motion to dismiss Representative Min at the extraordinary general meeting.

However, in the opposite case, the fight between HYBE, who is trying to fire Representative Min, and Representative Min, who is holding on, is expected to be prolonged. It is highly likely that CEO Min will remain in his position rather than be dismissed and will oversee New Genes' new album activities in the upcoming May and June months.

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