Recently, K-pop fans were buzzing when BTS’s Jungkook posted a photo supporting NewJeans with the message “Don’t use them,” implying that artists should not be dragged into disputes and used as shields.
The question arises: Who is Jungkook referring to?
About Min Hee Jin:
When HYBE uncovered an attempt to overthrow the company, instead of focusing on the legal issues during the press conference, Min Hee Jin (MHJ) dragged NewJeans, ILLIT, BTS, and Le Sserafim into the conversation to justify her actions:
- “I love NewJeans so much, that’s why I’m worried.”
- “I consider myself the mother of NewJeans.”
- “I acted because I was uncomfortable with ILLIT copying NewJeans.”
- “I felt betrayed when Le Sserafim debuted first.”
- “BTS is a trump card, so I wanted to develop NewJeans before they enlist.”
At a press conference, MHJ highlighted her success with NewJeans by saying, “I achieved success with NewJeans in 2 years, which many top groups haven’t,” using her “achievements” to justify her scheme against ADOR and using NewJeans as a “shield” to deflect criticism.
As a talented art director, MHJ skillfully built her image as “NewJeans’ mother,” but behind the scenes, she disparaged and criticized the five girls, claiming not to remember when questioned by reporters.
There is no professional boundary with NewJeans; MHJ even called and cried with the members at midnight when drama erupted. In 20 years of K-pop, no CEO has crossed the CEO-artist boundary as MHJ has.
Similarly, it’s rare to see any idol’s family have as much “voice” as NewJeans’ parents. Their participation in exclusive interviews supporting MHJ and accusing HYBE of various charges raised questions about why they involved themselves in what is a legal battle between HYBE and MHJ, unrelated to NewJeans. This led to suspicions that CEO Min had “enlisted” NewJeans’ parents.
On September 11, during a YouTube livestream, NewJeans demanded HYBE “reinstate CEO MHJ by September 25.” Would NewJeans have made such demands without a legal team advising them? And what legal team would dare to advise NewJeans against HYBE? There is only one possibility here.
About HYBE:
From the beginning, HYBE expressed the view, “Please stop CEO MHJ from mentioning artists and affecting their image.”
When NewJeans continuously showed support for MHJ, HYBE remained silent and never forced the five girls to stop or choose sides. Even during the September 11 livestream, which violated the contract, HYBE remained indifferent and did not penalize the girls.
HYBE only contends with MHJ and has never involved NewJeans in this legal battle. It is NewJeans who have dragged themselves into this fight, for example, with the petition on May 17 and the September 11 livestream. The girls couldn’t separate themselves from MHJ, seeing HYBE’s conflict with MHJ as an attack on them, leading them to defend MHJ.
Information about NewJeans’ debut was disclosed through Dispatch. Many were outraged because the videos were inappropriate at the time and believed HYBE wanted to discredit NewJeans. However, HYBE’s aim was to prove that MHJ had taken trainees from Source Music but refused to acknowledge it. It’s true that HYBE could have handled it differently rather than releasing images of NewJeans without their permission.
Fairly speaking, HYBE has not taken good care of NewJeans. But since ADOR is the only company where CEO MHJ manages all aspects from business to art, NewJeans was completely separated from HYBE. Thus, the five girls spent most of their time working with MHJ, leading to a disparity in care and attention that HYBE could not match, but HYBE never involved NewJeans in this conflict.
In contrast, CEO MHJ has clearly failed to maintain a professional distance with the five girls. Instead of engaging in legal battles, MHJ continuously involved NewJeans in this conflict, leading them to sign the May 17 petition and open the September 11 livestream to keep Min.
So, who is using NewJeans as a shield in this battle?