Min Hee-jin’s Lawsuit Against HYBE Executives Dismissed Again by Police

Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin has suffered another legal setback in her ongoing dispute with HYBE. The police have once again dismissed her complaint against former HYBE CEO Park Ji-won and Chief Communications Officer (CCO) Park Tae-hee, citing that their access to her company email during an audit was lawful.

According to a TenAsia report on November 6, the Seoul Yongsan Police Station reached a non-prosecution decision on October 14 regarding Min’s accusation that Park Ji-won and Park Tae-hee violated the Information and Communications Network Act in November of last year.

Min alleged that Park and other executives illegally accessed and forensically examined her work laptop and email account, extracting private KakaoTalk messages and leaking them externally. In response, HYBE argued that Min never officially returned her laptop and that the company’s internal audit, including email inspection, was conducted within legal and procedural bounds.

The police ultimately sided with HYBE, stating there was no evidence that Min returned the laptop around August 2022 as she claimed. Moreover, HYBE’s audit access to her work email account was deemed within their authority. The same conclusion applied to the laptop used by the former ADOR deputy CEO, who co-filed the complaint with Min—there was no unlawful seizure or unauthorized search, the investigation concluded.

In response to the latest decision, Min Hee-jin’s legal representation at Sejong Law Firm confirmed the outcome and stated that they plan to file an objection.

Industry observers now believe that this ruling may weaken Min’s position in her ongoing civil litigation against HYBE. Notably, HYBE allegedly possesses KakaoTalk messages in which Min and the former deputy CEO discussed in detail a plan to split NewJeans from the label—information that could have a significant impact on the case.

This marks the second time Min’s legal claims on this matter have been dismissed. A similar complaint filed in July 2024, accusing five HYBE executives of conducting an illegal audit, was also dropped due to lack of evidence.

Previously, on July 24th, 2024, ADOR announced, “CEO Min Hee-jin and others have filed a complaint with the Yongsan Police Station today (July 24th) against HYBE CEO Park Ji-won, Audit Committee Chairman Lim Soo-hyun, Chief Legal Officer Jung Jin-soo, Chief Financial Officer Lee Kyung-joon and Chief Communications Officer Park Tae-hee for obstruction of business, electronic record inspection, violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (network intrusion, etc.) and defamation under the same law.”

They continued, “The defendants have repeatedly and unlawfully obtained and leaked private messenger conversations and personal information, manipulating and editing them to suit their intentions.”

Furthermore, they said, “In April, the defendants forcefully acquired work laptops owned by ADOR under the pretext of a ‘parent company’s subsidiary audit’ with the intent to dismiss Min Hee-jin from her position as ADOR CEO, following her two internal whistleblowing incidents. Through this, they unlawfully obtained private KakaoTalk conversations and conducted forensic analysis on a laptop that Min Hee-jin had reset and returned in 2022 when she joined ADOR, securing personal conversations that were not work-related.“

The statement also claimed, “The defendants edited and distorted the obtained private conversations to create and distribute press releases with false information about Min Hee-jin’s management and work performance, thereby forming a negative public opinion against her.”

Lastly, they emphasized, “We have repeatedly requested the defendants to stop these actions, both officially and unofficially, as they harm artists and ADOR members and cause confusion among the public. However, the illegal actions of the defendants have continued until recently, and we can no longer allow artists and ADOR members to suffer from these unlawful activities.”

Earlier, Dispatch raised allegations of “snatching NewJeans members” based on KakaoTalk conversations between Min Hee-jin and a shaman. Dispatch claimed that Min, who was involved in the branding role for the debut project of Source Music’s team N (which included NewJeans members), intentionally delayed team N’s debut schedule to lead NewJeans’ debut. Min Hee-jin’s side firmly stated that these allegations are false and announced plans for legal action.

Source: Daum