Min Hee Jin has won a major court battle against HYBE.
On February 12th, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the former ADOR CEO in a pair of closely watched lawsuits tied to a shareholder agreement and her exercise of a put option on her shares. The court dismissed HYBE’s claim seeking confirmation that the shareholder agreement had been terminated and ordered the company to pay Min approximately 25.5 billion KRW (approx. 17.7 million USD) for her shares.
The court also ruled that HYBE must pay 1.7 billion KRW (approx. 1.2 million USD) to executive Shin and 1.4 billion KRW to another executive Kim. Legal costs will be covered by HYBE.
Min had notified HYBE in November 2024 of her intention to exercise her put option on her ADOR shares. Based on ADOR’s audit report at the time, the amount she stood to receive was estimated at around 26 billion KRW. HYBE, however, argued that they had already terminated the shareholder agreement in July 2024, claiming that the termination invalidated the put option.
In its ruling, the court acknowledged that Min had explored ways to independently control ADOR and appeared to have anticipated a breakdown in negotiations over the shareholder agreement. However, it stated that these actions alone did not constitute a serious breach of the contract.
Under the terms of the agreement, termination would require a clear and material violation. The court found that such a violation had not been sufficiently proven.
The judges also addressed KakaoTalk messages secured by HYBE during the dispute, stating that the content of those conversations, on its own, could not be seen as a grave breach of the shareholder agreement.
Min and HYBE have been locked in a fierce legal battle for months. Min maintained that the termination of the contract was unjustified and rejected HYBE’s claims. During the proceedings, she personally appeared in court three times for witness questioning and denied allegations related to management control and so-called tampering involving NewJeans.
With the ruling now handed down, Min has secured a significant legal victory in one of the K-pop industry’s most high-profile disputes.
>> Was Min Hee Jin’s Real Goal Behind the Press Conference to Direct Criticism at NewJeans’ Hyein?
In the meantime, watch trending K-dramas for free on Amasian TV and OnDemandKorea.
Source (1)
