Min Hee-jin Criticized For Mentioning NewJeans & ILLIT In Her Stance Against HYBE

HYBE recently detected Min Hee-jin’s attempt to take over the management of ADOR and exercised the right to audit. ADOR is NewJeans’s agency and a label under HYBE. HYBE currently holds 80% share in ADOR while the remaining 20% belongs to ADOR executives, including Min Hee-jin.

In this regard, Min Hee-jin said on April 22nd, “To protect our artist NewJeans and the development of Korea’s music industry and culture, I’m raising my opinion over ‘ILLIT copying NewJeans issue’”, attacking the girl group of another HYBE’s label BELIFT Lab.

Regarding ILLIT, Min Hee-jin claimed, “This initiation has damaged the image of NewJeans and caused the group to be involved in unnecessary controversies, resulting in worries and frustration among fans and the public”.

In response to Min Hee-jin’s stance, many K-pop fans have criticized the female CEO for making unilaterally rude claims. In particular, she branded a new girl group that just debuted recently as “copy”. What’s more controversial is that netizens think ILLIT’s music and performance are clearly different from NewJeans’s color.

As Min Hee-jin raised the “copying” issue, some others argued that NewJeans’s stylings and concepts by her are similar to what other groups and overseas artists had done before. A netizen claimed, “Didn’t she also create a new group by borrowing the existing concept?”.

In addition, some even pointed out that Min Hee-jin’s statement is affecting NewJeans negatively. The female CEO said, “We announced our official position after having sufficient discussions with NewJeans members and our legal representatives”. As such, NewJeans members have become involved in ADOR and HYBE’s conflict due to the mention of them sharing the same idea. This is the reason why the public is calling this the “second FIFTY FIFTY incident”.

On April 23rd, Chosun Ilbo and Segye Ilbo reported that HYBE discovered an ADOR’s internal document that appeared to have summarized methods of seizing the management rights. People are wondering if ADOR planned all these documents just because of Min Hee-jin’s discomfort with ILLIT. Attention is on the results of HYBE’s audit and Min Hee-jin’s rebuttal in the future.