Police have officially cleared Min Hee Jin, the former CEO of ADOR, of any criminal wrongdoing following allegations filed by HYBE.
On July 15th, Min’s legal team confirmed that police found no evidence of illegal activity after a year-long investigation into breach of trust accusations brought by HYBE in April 2024. Both cases were dismissed with a decision of “no charges.”
Min was previously questioned for about eight hours at the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul. At the time, she told reporters, “I’ll tell the truth,” and added, “Claiming this is a breach of trust doesn’t make any sense.”
After the questioning, she said she had actually requested to be investigated first. “I’m a bit impatient and had a lot I wanted to say,” she explained. When asked if she had more evidence to submit, she replied, “We have plenty,” with her lawyer adding, “We’ll submit it later.” Min also said, “I feel relieved now that I’ve told the truth,” and called the allegations “almost comedic.”
HYBE, the parent company of ADOR, launched an audit into Min and ADOR’s leadership in April 2024, accusing her of trying to seize control of the company. On April 26th, they filed a police complaint, claiming she had breached her duties as CEO in an attempt to take over management of the label. Min denied the claims, saying it wasn’t even possible given the company’s ownership structure.
In response to the dispute, HYBE pushed to remove Min and ADOR’s board members through an emergency shareholders’ meeting. Min fought back by filing an injunction to block HYBE from using its voting rights.
The Seoul Central District Court sided with Min. The judge stated there wasn’t enough evidence to justify her removal, ruling in her favor and temporarily blocking HYBE’s attempt to fire her.
In the ruling, the court said, “HYBE hasn’t provided enough evidence to prove there was a valid reason to dismiss her.” The court did acknowledge that Min appeared to explore ways to move ADOR, and NewJeans in particular, out of HYBE’s control or reduce its influence. However, it added, “There’s no indication she took any concrete steps to make that happen. Even if her actions could be seen as disloyal to HYBE, they don’t amount to a criminal breach of trust against ADOR.”
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The court emphasized that if HYBE were allowed to vote her out, Min would suffer damage that couldn’t be undone later with money. Therefore, it ruled there was a need to block HYBE’s voting rights for the time being.
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