Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin has lost her lawsuit against NewJeans, with the court ruling that her KakaoTalk messages and Slack chats played a decisive role in the verdict.
According to the written judgment from the Seoul Central District Court on October 30th, Min was found to have instructed an ADOR employee to comb through company chat logs in search of material that could be used against artists and executives within HYBE, ADOR’s parent company.
The conversation, which became a core part of the court’s reasoning, was included in the verdict later made publicly viewable via Korea’s largest legal platform LBox. The court cited Min’s messages as evidence that she had initiated a coordinated effort to build negative narratives against HYBE while seeking grounds for litigation.
In one KakaoTalk exchange, Min allegedly told a staff member: “Find anything we can sue them—obstruction of business, violation of commercial law, breach of trust, whatever. Look for every possible piece of evidence,” later adding, “That’s good, but keep digging for something more decisive. The more, the better.”
The court also noted Min’s remarks referencing multiple HYBE artists by name and instructing the employee to locate potentially damaging messages within the company’s Slack channels. One passage quoted her saying, “If you’ve already found that much on Slack, there should be more on [artists’ names redacted].”
The presiding judge stated that these messages demonstrated Min’s premeditated effort to create unfavorable sentiment toward HYBE and to construct claims of ADOR’s alleged contract violations. The court concluded that NewJeans’ arguments about ADOR’s breach of duty were likely influenced by Min’s internal campaign.
Legal experts noted the irony that Min’s attempt to accuse others of misconduct could expose her to charges such as breach of trust, misuse of personal data, and defamation. One attorney commented, “Even without further evidence, this behavior could leave her open to claims of corporate breach of trust, privacy violations, unfair competition, abuse of authority, and reputational damage.”
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