[Exclusive]Not even a reconciliation... Min Hee-jin faces the '2.5 billion won lawsuit' again [★FOCUS]

*This content was translated by AI.

Legal disputes between former ADOOR CEO Min Hee-jin, Source Music, and Believe Lab will resume in May.

The 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court is scheduled to resume the trial sessions for the total 2.5 billion won in damages lawsuits filed by Source Music and Believe Lab against Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) on May 15. These two lawsuits were previously set for a tentative hearing date. A tentative hearing date means the court has not yet finalized the next session and will designate it later, indicating a suspended trial. Typically, the proceedings resume after observing the outcomes of the lawsuits related to both parties.

Currently, Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) is facing an appeal trial regarding a 25.6 billion won put option lawsuit with HYBE, to which Source Music and Believe Lab belong, and has begun trial sessions for a 4.3 billion won damages lawsuit with ADOOR, where she previously served as CEO, related to the exclusive contract for NewJeans. The conflict issues between Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) and Source Music and Believe Lab have also been mentioned multiple times in the put option lawsuit and the ADOOR lawsuit.

Furthermore, Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) proposed to HYBE that she would give up the 2.56 billion won put option in exchange for halting all lawsuits, but HYBE rejected the reconciliation offer in practice. Through the Seoul High Court, HYBE applied for the seizure and collection order of Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO)'s claims (bank accounts), appealed the first-instance judgment on the stock purchase price, applied for suspension of enforcement, and subsequently applied for the cancellation of compulsory enforcement related to the stock purchase price claim.

First, Source Music filed a lawsuit for damages worth 500 million won against Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) in July 2024. The core issue stemmed from Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO)'s claim during a press conference held in April 2024 that "I personally cast the NewJeans members, and HYBE unilaterally broke the promise to debut the first girl group." Source Music argued that these remarks were factually accurate and that they damaged the reputation of Source Music and its affiliated artists, leading to the lawsuit.

Source Music stated, "The issue is not with individual expressions but with the overall context of the press conference remarks," and argued, "It is illegal to negatively perceive unrelated third parties, such as affiliated artists, by citing private conflicts among shareholders." They repeatedly emphasized that the social evaluation of affiliated artists, including LE SSERAFIM, has been damaged.

In response, Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO)'s side countered that the press conference was an "inevitable response to HYBE's audit and one-sided media response." They argued that it is unfair to judge defamation based on isolated remarks and that the expression "thug" was not an insult targeting a specific individual but a statement pointing out problems in the establishment process.

This lawsuit began in January 2025, completed four trial sessions, and was about to have a first-instance verdict announced in January last year, but the trial sessions were suddenly resumed and were confirmed as a tentative hearing date ahead of the session on the 13th.

Believe Lab filed a lawsuit for damages worth 2 billion won against Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO) in June 2024, prior to Source Music. This lawsuit began with Min Hee-jin Jeon (CEO)'s allegations of "Ive plagiarism."

During Min Hui-jin-i (CEO)'s tenure, ADOOR stated, "To protect NewJeans and for the sound development of Korea's music industry and culture, we will publicly state our position on the 'Ive copying NewJeans incident.'" They added, "One of HYBE's labels, Believe Lab, debuted the female five-member idol group Ive in March this year. After Ive's teaser photos were released, the reaction 'I thought it was NewJeans' flooded the online space. Ive is copying NewJeans in all areas of entertainment activities, including hair, makeup, costumes, choreography, photography, video, and event appearances. Ive is being evaluated as 'Min Hee-jin style,' 'Min Hee-jin type,' or 'a derivative of NewJeans.'"

ADOOR further stated, "HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyeok produced Ive's debut album. Ive's copying of NewJeans was not done by Believe Lab alone but involved HYBE. As a company leading K-pop, HYBE, blinded by short-term profits, is copying successful cultural content without any hesitation, not only failing to show novelty but also making it banal." They continued, "There are reactions that since the labels under HYBE, it is understandable that Ive is similar to NewJeans. There are even reactions that ADOOR and NewJeans may have allowed or understood such similarities. However, these reactions are clearly misunderstandings. A multi-label system is a system designed to allow each label to independently make the music they want, not a system to give a free pass for one label to copy the cultural achievements of another label simply because they are affiliated labels."

They particularly emphasized, "ADOOR has never allowed or understood anyone, including HYBE and Believe Lab, to copy NewJeans' achievements. ADOOR does not want Ive and NewJeans to be associated in any way. We have no intention of promoting anyone as 'someone's younger sister group' simply because they debuted under an HYBE label."

In response, Believe Lab previously stated that the claim that Ive plagiarized NewJeans' planning documents was false and filed this lawsuit in June. Believe Lab said, "Ive's branding strategy and concept were finalized and internally shared on July 21, 2023," and added, "The whistleblower sent the so-called planning document on August 28, 2023, which is after that date, so it could not have influenced Ive's concept at that time."

Believe Lab also stated, "Along with this lawsuit, we have submitted a criminal complaint against Min Hui-jin (CEO) for business obstruction and defamation for making one-sided false claims that are causing damage to our company and Ive." They added, "Min Hee-jin has sacrificed innocent rookie groups for her own private gain," and expressed regret that "by claiming plagiarism as a means to secure her own private interests, she is negatively affecting the entire popular culture." They pointed out, "If we cannot correct the act of only assembling and distorting positions favorable to herself even in matters that should be judged by professionals, it will severely stifle the creative activities of creators, and Min Hee-jin will never be free."

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*This content was translated by AI.