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On June 12, 2025, the Seoul Central District Court began hearing the case between Min Hee-jin and HYBE. Min, former CEO of ADOR, strongly criticized HYBE, claiming the company's actions in 2024 caused major harm to the K-pop industry. She is suing for about 28.7 billion KRW over her put option and is also involved in a countersuit over the end of her shareholder deal with HYBE.
Min Hee-jin is seeking payment based on her shareholder rights, while HYBE argues the contract was already void due to alleged breaches of trust. The court has decided to proceed with parallel hearings on both the put option claim and HYBE’s counter-suit seeking judicial confirmation of contract termination. According to Star News Korea, she said,
"HYBE's 2024 misdeeds will be recorded as an unprecedented event in K-pop history. One person's malicious actions should not be allowed to undermine the 'essence of karma.' It was truly bad."
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Min Hee-jin’s legal team rejected accusations that she attempted to "steal" NewJeans from HYBE’s control. They called the agency’s version of events a fictional narrative. According to Star News Korea, they said,
"Hybe's claims are like a novel that was made up of private conversations. They even make ridiculous claims that since the time Min Hee-jin joined the company, Hybe had been stealing trainees to an independent label created with Hybe's money and (Min Hee-jin) dreamed of making an idol group successful and becoming independent with the group."
They further pushed back against HYBE’s use of private KakaoTalk messages as evidence and denied that any wrongdoing had occurred regarding ILLIT or discussions about LE SSERAFIM's Sakura.
"However, if Hybe's claims are true, then Min Hee-jin had already been saying that Hybe and Source Music would debut other members, including Sakura, since January 2019, five years before this incident broke out, or that Hybe would make New Jeans independent from Ador and make it the first girl group. It is questionable whether he is claiming that he already knew at the time that they were going to debut as a girl group. Things like Ailit copying New Jeans and such are circumstances that could not have been predicted at all in the past."
According to Min’s representatives, HYBE had long been planning separate group launches, and the plagiarism concerns surrounding ILLIT were legitimate creative disputes, not part of any conspiracy.
More about the HYBE vs. Min Hee-jin battle over contract validity and put option in the ongoing trial
The case centers on Min Hee-jin’s move to exercise a put option in November 2024, shortly after resigning as an internal director at ADOR. Under their shareholder agreement, this clause entitled her to request that HYBE purchase 75% of her 18% stake, valued at 13 times ADOR’s average operating profit over two years. Based on ADOR’s reported performance, this amounts to around 26 billion KRW.
HYBE maintains that it terminated the shareholder agreement in July 2024, citing breaches of trust, and argues that this invalidated Min’s put option rights. They accuse Min Hee-jin of undermining the company’s interests and planning to take NewJeans independent, while still receiving substantial compensation from ADOR. As per the Star News Korea's report, the label stated,
"Ador paid 2.7 billion won in salary to Min Hee-jin in 2024. However, while receiving such a huge salary, they attempted to steal Newjeans behind the scenes and described the corporate value of the company as similar to them. And then they are demanding that we purchase the shares of Adorhthat they own for 27.8 billion won by evaluating the value of the shares when they were part of Ador."
In court, HYBE also referenced alleged evidence indicating long-term plans by Min to distance NewJeans from corporate oversight. They cited internal discussions about debut strategies involving Sakura and other trainees as far back as 2019. Min’s team refuted these claims, arguing that HYBE’s timeline was flawed and that their actions had always been in line with corporate agreements.
Both parties agreed to combine the hearings for efficiency, as the outcome of the termination dispute will directly affect whether Min’s put option can be enforced. The court acknowledged that further clarification is required on key evidence and legal positions, with both sides expected to file more detailed submissions.
As the case proceeds, it highlights tensions between creative leadership and corporate management in K-pop’s fast-evolving industry. The next phase of the trial is expected to focus heavily on the validity of HYBE’s termination notice and the enforceability of Min’s shareholder rights.
