ADOR pushed for Min Hee-jin’s reappointment as an internal director while claiming they couldn’t trust her. Min Hee-jin said she wouldn’t take on the role of general producer but is still handling NewJeans-related work. Both sides seem to be acting differently from their stated positions. What could be the reason?
On October 17th, ADOR held a temporary shareholders’ meeting and passed a resolution to reappoint Min Hee-jin, whose term as an internal director was set to expire on the 1st of next month, as an internal director. ADOR kept the promise made to Min Hee-jin’s representative during the injunction hearing related to the exercise of voting rights held on October 11th.
On the day of the hearing, ADOR stated, “Our position to support the appointment of the creditor (Min Hee-jin) as an internal director is clear, and we’ve maintained her producing authority for 5 years. We’ve allowed her to continue the same work until NewJeans’ exclusive contract expires.”
They further emphasized, “The creditor’s position is to exercise affirmative voting rights on the agenda for the appointment of an internal director, and the debtor (ADOR) has also submitted a proxy statement agreeing to this.” At the request of the court, they even left this content in the court record, promising Min Hee-jin’s reappointment as an internal director, which they have now implemented.
This stands in stark contrast to ADOR’s previous media and legal responses, where they appealed that Min Hee-jin couldn’t be trusted due to her betrayal and suspected breach of trust. Some members of the public are questioning, “If you can’t trust her, why are you giving her the job?” and “It’s strange to keep her as an internal director but not give her the CEO position.”
Industry insiders believe that this decision was made because ADOR’s top priority is to ensure that NewJeans’ future activities are not disrupted. Moreover, given that NewJeans members have expressed their desire to continue working with Min Hee-jin and her close associates through live broadcasts and other means, the industry consensus is that it would be difficult to go against the artists’ wishes, even considering public opinion. From ADOR’s perspective, the analysis is that the continuation of the artists’ activities is more important than how much they trust Min Hee-jin.
Regarding this, HYBE stated, “We respected ADOR’s board of directors’ management decision and reappointed her as an internal director,” but regarding Min’s current work position, they said, “We cannot confirm the producer contract and R&R.”
Furthermore, industry insiders judge that the reason ADOR consistently opposes Min Hee-jin’s return as CEO is, as ADOR has stated, to separate production and management to prevent a concentration of power.
Min Hee-jin, who had refused to sign the contract clause related to the general producer position citing dissatisfaction, appears to be continuing her producing work for NewJeans at ADOR. At the time, she claimed she couldn’t sign the producing work delegation contract presented by ADOR due to toxic clauses, in addition to the uncertainty of maintaining her position as an internal director. Therefore, the news that she is currently continuing her work with NewJeans leaves room for questions.
Min Hee-jin’s actions also seem to be for the continuation of NewJeans’ activities. In an interview with a Japanese media outlet on October 16th, she said, “I’m currently neither a producer nor a CEO,” adding, “It’s an ambiguous situation with only internal director authority, but I’m continuing the plans I’ve been working on (with NewJeans).” Min Hee-jin then stated that the most important thing to her is the plans she made to work with NewJeans.
Now that Min Hee-jin’s reappointment as an internal director has been confirmed, there’s a possibility that she might sign a contract again as a general producer and return to activities. Regarding this, Min Hee-jin’s representative stated that it would be difficult to provide an official statement until the results of the injunction are out. However, they added that while nothing has been discussed separately with ADOR after the reappointment as an internal director, they could discuss it in the future.
While these parties continue their legal battle with opposing positions, they have one common purpose, which is to maintain NewJeans’ activities. Despite the conflict, ADOR reappointed Min Hee-jin as an internal director to keep her in the company, and Min Hee-jin is still continuing her work with NewJeans without leaving the company. To achieve this common goal, ADOR and Min Hee-jin are taking actions that may seem contradictory from an external perspective.
Source: Daum
