K-pop girl group NewJeans was absent from the court ruling on their exclusive contract dispute with their agency ADOR, which has now been declared legally binding.
On October 30, Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 41, led by Judge Jung Hoe-il, held the sentencing for the exclusive contract validity lawsuit filed by ADOR against all five NewJeans members. Despite the high-stakes decision, NewJeans did not appear in court, though a crowd of fans gathered at the courthouse, highlighting the intense public interest.
The legal conflict traces back to November 2024, when NewJeans announced the termination of their contract with ADOR, citing breaches of obligation. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit in December 2024 to confirm the contract’s validity, insisting it remained in effect and that NewJeans‘ declaration was unilateral and unfounded.
During hearings, both sides engaged in fierce debate. ADOR argued that it had invested over ₩21 billion in launching NewJeans ₩7 billion for their debut album, ₩2 billion for music videos, with additional support from parent company HYBE. They claimed NewJeans‘ actions breached their agreement and accused former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin of attempting to “poach” the group for years, even presenting KakaoTalk messages as evidence.
While expressing disappointment, ADOR maintained hope for reconciliation, stating that trust with NewJeans was not fully broken. However, NewJeans refuted these claims, asserting that HYBE orchestrated a retaliatory audit to oust Min Hee-jin and now controls ADOR, making the agency untrustworthy. The group also implied a conditional return only if Min Hee-jin were reinstated.
All chances of a settlement collapsed when ADOR appointed former HYBE executive Lee Do-kyung as a board director, while Min Hee-jin established her new independent label ooak.
Though NewJeans attended a hearing in March for ADOR’s injunction request, they skipped both the first and second court sessions for the contract validity lawsuit.
Earlier, the court granted ADOR’s request to ban NewJeans from conducting independent activities or signing advertisement contracts without prior consent. Any violation would incur a fine of ₩1 billion per incident per member potentially totaling ₩5 billion.
Ultimately, on October 30, the court ruled in favor of ADOR, stating, “We confirm that each exclusive contract between ADOR and the five members of NewJeans is valid.” The court also ordered NewJeans to bear the litigation costs.
This verdict blocks NewJeans from pursuing independent activities under the name NJZ (introduced earlier this year) and legally binds them to ADOR. Their challenges to previous injunctions were also denied, leaving the group effectively barred from further entertainment activities unless approved by the agency.
With the exclusive contract now upheld by the court, NewJeans remains legally tied to ADOR, and any breach of this ruling could trigger significant financial penalties.
Sources: nate, daum
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