NewJeans sets 14-day deadline for Ador to meet demands, including return of Min Hee-jin

Girl group NewJeans sent a certification of contents to their agency, Ador, stating they would terminate their exclusive contracts if the agency does not address certain demands, including the return of former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, Wednesday.

In the certification of contents, the bandmates listed various requests, asking Ador to “rectify all major contract violations within 14 days from the receipt of this letter.”

The members of NewJeans pointed out that an internal Hybe document, recently brought to light during a national audit, included instructions to “discard NewJeans and start anew.” They requested criminal and civil action to identify the author of the document and to investigate any illegal activities that may have occurred in the process.

The five bandmates also requested a formal apology from the manager for another Hybe artist, who allegedly told others to ignore Hanni. They additionally demanded the removal of videos and photos that were used without consent and called for the resolution of a dispute with Shin Woo-seok, the CEO of Dolphin Kidnapping Group -- who had produced several of the main content for NewJeans. The group urged Ador to preserve the group’s unique identity and creative works and to reinstate Min as a CEO.

Through the certification of contents, the group expressed, “Let CEO Min Hee-jin once again manage Ador and NewJeans as before. Bring back the Ador where NewJeans enjoyed performing happily, which was until March 2024. We miss NewJeans’ dream-filled vision of future music, performances and creative activities with Min Hee-jin.”

NewJeans emphasized that they would each terminate their exclusive contracts if Ador did not comply with their collective demands.

Ador has yet to respond, stating it had not received the certification of contents. Both Ador and parent company Hybe previously stated multiple times that reinstating Min as CEO is entirely out of the question.