On December 18, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 31 held the sixth hearing for HYBE’s lawsuit seeking confirmation of shareholder agreement termination, alongside the fourth hearing for Min Hee-jin’s stock purchase payment claim against HYBE. Min Hee-jin appeared in person to present her arguments, following an earlier session that included more than five hours of direct questioning.
During the hearing, HYBE’s legal team brought up a KakaoTalk exchange from March 2021 between Min Hee-jin and a shaman. The message reportedly included the phrase, “If we run the company for just three years, we can bring it over. I want to have it.” HYBE questioned what Min Hee-jin meant by “bringing it over” and “wanting to have it.”
Min Hee-jin strongly dismissed the relevance of the message, responding, “This is a KakaoTalk message from March 2021. I don’t understand what it has to do with the shareholder agreement.” She explained that the conversation took place on the day all employees first moved into HYBE’s headquarters and described it as “an emotional expression” stemming from her attachment to the building she had helped design.
She further clarified, “It was simply me saying it felt like a waste to leave something I had built. It has no further meaning. The message predates the establishment of ADOR and was exchanged before any shareholder agreement even existed.”
Min Hee-jin also questioned why she was being asked to explain remarks made in a context where no contractual framework was in place. “There was no shareholder agreement at the time. There was nothing decided. I don’t understand why I’m being asked to justify this,” she said.
Addressing accusations that she had launched attacks against HYBE, Min Hee-jin denied any such intent. “I never attacked anyone. Three years ago, I wouldn’t even know what wrongdoing HYBE might commit. Accusing me of ‘attacks’ without specifying what HYBE supposedly did wrong is a flawed question,” she argued.
The dispute traces back to July of last year, when HYBE claimed Min Hee-jin attempted to privatize ADOR and NewJeans, leading the company to declare the shareholder agreement terminated. In August, HYBE’s board voted to remove Min Hee-jin from her position as CEO, and in November, she stepped down as an internal director while notifying HYBE of her intent to exercise her put option.
HYBE maintains that the shareholder agreement was lawfully terminated in July, rendering the put option invalid. Min Hee-jin, however, insists there was no breach on her part and that HYBE’s termination notice has no legal standing.
The controversial put option is calculated by multiplying ADOR’s average operating profit over the past two years by 13, then applying Min Hee-jin’s ownership stake. Based on this formula, Min Hee-jin could receive an estimated 26 billion KRW if the put option is upheld.
As the courtroom battle continues, Min Hee-jin’s rebuttal regarding the shaman KakaoTalk messages underscores her central argument: that personal conversations predating ADOR’s founding should not be used to infer intent or breach in a later contractual dispute.
Sources: 네이트 뉴스
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