The ongoing feud between former ADOR CEO Min Heejin and HYBE has now led to NewJeans planning to leave the company altogether. On the evening of November 28, Hanni, Minji, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein held a press conference to announce their planned departure. This revelation comes two weeks after the group stated they would leave if ADOR failed to reinstate Min as CEO, among other requests. Tensions have been bubbling between Min, NewJeans, HYBE, and its various sublabels since April. 

NewJeans’s Stance: Reinstate Min Heejin

NewJeans first publicly spoke about Min’s situation in May when they filed letters to prevent Min’s dismissal as CEO. However, HYBE’s chief HR officer Park Juyoung replaced her in August. On September 11, NewJeans took to YouTube in a surprise livestream that documented their experiences of alleged mistreatment from HYBE. They expressed concerns the company and the new ADOR CEO were not acting in NewJeans’s best interests. 

Hanni detailed an alleged bullying incident she experienced from a HYBE artist and their manager—now publicly known as ILLIT’s manager, a staff member from the HYBE sublabel BELIFT LAB—where she felt purposely ignored. Hanni said that Park dismissed her claims when she brought the issue to her attention. NewJeans stated that unless ADOR granted Min’s CEO position back by September 25 (a two-week period), they would leave. “The ADOR that we want is an ADOR where the music production and company management are done by Min Heejin as the CEO,” Minji said. “We make this request as a way to cohabitate peacefully with HYBE.” 

Hanni and Park Juyoung Testify: National Assembly Comments

Weeks after the livestream, South Korea’s Environment and Labor Commission Committee requested both Hanni and Park for questioning about workplace harassment as part of a parliamentary audit. The two appeared in front of the National Assembly on October 15, when they clarified their varying perspectives on the bullying claims. Though ADOR took “every possible step” in getting proof of this bullying, the company dropped the allegations due to insufficient evidence. Hanni claimed that the proof, seen in CCTV footage, was altered despite BELIFT LAB’s denial. 

The chair of the Environment and Labor Commission Committee, Rep. An Hoyoung, said the committee chose Hanni to illustrate how “the definition of labor is changing.” Though the evolution of technology has created new types of jobs, local labor laws do not apply to many of these occupations. Though ADOR does not consider its idols as employees covered under the country’s Labor Standards Act, “there is ongoing discussion about whether artists should be considered employees,” Park said. 

NewJeans’s Second Ultimatum: ADOR to Fulfill Requests, or Group Departs

On November 13, NewJeans once again threatened to leave ADOR: they planned to terminate their exclusive contracts if the company does not comply with a series of requests. This request, similar to the one outlined in their September livestream, came softly after Min voluntarily stepped down from ADOR’s board of directors. She was re-elected to the board in October, but still left as she viewed the efforts between her and HYBE “a waste of time” to continue.  

NewJeans’s requests included: 

• For ADOR to look into “suspicions that HYBE cut off support to NewJeans and prioritized” LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT, and to take legal action against “those responsible.” NewJeans references “NewAr,” a term within HYBE’s internal report discussing NewJeans, IVE, and LE SSERAFIM, where HYBE allegedly suggested leaving “New” behind. 

• An apology from ILLIT’s manager, who NewJeans claimed “bullied” Hanni. 

• The replacement of the HYBE PR officer who “downplayed” NewJeans’s achievements: this individual previously disclosed “dismissive remarks about NewJeans’s local album sales [in Japan]” to Seoul News reporter Jang Hyunwoo. 

• Deleting media of NewJeans that were used without the group’s consent. This likely refers to Dispatch’s release of videos in July containing footage from NewJeans’s trainee days. The group’s trainee contracts with Source Music, the time period in which those videos were captured, “did not include provisions for the use of trainees’ likeness or voices.” 

• Repairing the harm inflicted by “unfair album sales practices.” South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism previously questioned HYBE officials over allegations the company misrepresented album sales numbers “through questionable tactics”: by allowing album refunds after purchases, between 70,000 to 200,000 additional albums were later returned. 

•  Resolving ADOR’s feud with Shin Wooseok, the director of NewJeans’s music videos for “Ditto” and “ETA.” In September, Shin said ADOR and HYBE requested that he remove all “content related to NewJeans on his social media” and YouTube channel “Ban Heesoo” after he refused to make another video for the company and its sublabel.  

• Reappointing Min Heejin as ADOR CEO, and continuing NewJeans’s identity under her input. 

• That all the above be resolved by November 27.

Hanni’s Case Investigation Closed: Lack of Employee Status

On November 30, the Ministry of Employment and Labor closed their investigation into Hanni’s workplace bullying allegations against HYBE and ADOR. They ruled that because Hanni cannot be easily considered an employee based on South Korea’s Labor Standards Act, they cannot pursue the case. 

“Based on the nature and terms of Hanni’s management contract, it is difficult to classify her as a worker under the law, which defines a worker as someone in a subordinate relationship with an employer, providing labor for wages,” said the Seoul Western Employment and Labor Office under the ministry.

Due to the idol occupation not meeting the same requirements as many conventional employees, Hanni’s contract with ADOR was considered a “commission-based” situation instead of employment-based. The Regional Office of Employment and Labor referenced a 2019 Korea’s Supreme Court ruling that “categorized entertainment contracts as civil mandate agreements, or unnamed contracts,” but not by employment. 

Surprise Press Conference: Contracts Terminated

Two weeks after laying out their requests for ADOR, NewJeans held a surprise press conference on November 28. Minji said their contracts will “be terminated” at midnight on November 29, after the deadline they gave ADOR to address their concerns. They said that HYBE and ADOR’s inability to address their concerns automatically nullifies their exclusive contracts. According to Hanni, though the members received emails from the company, those felt “performative” with “no intention to improve.” “ADOR has neither the will nor the ability to protect NewJeans,” she said. “Continuing would be a waste of time and mental distress.” 

The members continued to emphasize how much they want to continue under Min Heejin’s direction, and that HYBE and ADOR should shoulder any fees associated with early contract termination. “We are still doing our best to promote,” Hyein said, noting that the group had not “violated” their contract. “There is absolutely no reason for us to pay any penalties.” ADOR, on the other hand, said that NewJeans’s contract “remains valid until July 31, 2029.” Industry experts that spoke to The Korea Herald days before the conference estimated that NewJeans’s penalty fee would cost “between 450 billion won and 620 billion won.”