Min Heejin: "NewJeans Contract Impossible Without HYBE Approval"

Rebuts HYBE's response to NYT report on "unfair contracts"
"Legal team drafted them... CEO approval required"
HYBE also rejected 2024 request for authority to execute contracts
"Negotiating and signing a contract is different from having substantive decision-making authority"

Min Hee-jin, CEO of OK Records. Courtesy of OK Records.

Min Heejin, CEO of OK Records, has rejected HYBE's claim that she was the party responsible for the NewJeans contract, saying HYBE's legal team drafted key provisions of the group's exclusive contract and that HYBE executives also had to approve its execution.

On Nov. 6, Min Heejin's side said, "The fact that ADOR was a party to the contract and participated in negotiations at the time is entirely different from saying it had the authority to make substantive decisions on the contract's key provisions."

The New York Times reported on Nov. 5 local time that NewJeans members had raised concerns about protective provisions and the allocation of costs in the exclusive contracts they signed as minors. In a statement on Nov. 6, HYBE and ADOR countered that labels under HYBE sign trainees to the national standard supplementary agreement for minors, and that the terms of NewJeans' contracts had been discussed extensively with the members and their parents. They also said that Min Heejin, then ADOR's CEO, ADOR's vice president, the members, and their parents had negotiated the wording of the contracts.

According to Min Heejin, ADOR did not have an independent legal team at the time. HYBE operated a "Shared Function" system that handled common functions, including legal affairs, leaving labels unable to establish separate legal departments. Min Heejin said, "HYBE's legal team drafted the initial version of NewJeans' exclusive contract. Revisions to the contract were also handled through HYBE's legal team." ADOR relayed questions and revision requests from the members and their parents to HYBE's legal team and negotiated the contract wording.

Min Heejin's side said that finalizing the contracts required not only sign-off from ADOR's CEO but also agreement and approval from HYBE's legal team, chief financial officer (CFO), and chief executive officer (CEO). ADOR's board also had to approve the contracts. At the time of the NewJeans contracts, the board consisted of three inside directors: Min Heejin and two HYBE-affiliated executives.

Min Heejin's side also released a message that ADOR's then-vice president allegedly sent to the parent of one member. According to her side, the vice president wrote, "I was told that the contract is a standard form used by HYBE affiliates, so it would be difficult to make all the changes you requested. This is because HYBE is involved in the final decision-making process."

Min Heejin also cited her efforts in 2024 to obtain authority from HYBE to execute contracts. On Jan. 25, 2024, she met with Park Jiwon, HYBE's CEO at the time, and requested authority to execute important contracts, including exclusive contracts. On Feb. 16 of the same year, she submitted a proposed amendment to the shareholders' agreement that included this request. Her side also cited her public statement that HYBE had rejected the request in May of that year.

Min Heejin asked, "If ADOR had sufficient authority to independently decide on and execute the key terms of the exclusive contracts, why would its CEO have separately asked the parent company for that authority?"

K-pop group NewJeans. ADOR.

She also challenged HYBE's account of how costs were allocated. HYBE had previously said that the mother of one member asked for the costs to be reduced, prompting its legal team to come up with several options, but that ADOR's then-vice president rejected them.

Min Heejin's side countered, "The fact that ADOR could negotiate some settlement terms or how costs were allocated is a separate matter from whether it had the authority to independently change the basic structure and key policy provisions of the exclusive contracts drawn up by HYBE."

According to OK Records, when the NewJeans members moved from Source Music to ADOR, ADOR decided not to charge them for costs incurred during their previous trainee period. The company said it took into account circumstances including the cancellation of the original debut plan and the failure to fulfill related promises.

Citing the recollections of staff involved at the time, Min Heejin's side said that, during contract negotiations, examples from other labels and HYBE executives' policies were sometimes conveyed verbally and factored into discussions. It added, "It is difficult to judge the entire decision-making process solely by whether a proposal was rejected in writing," and argued, "A record of accepting or rejecting a particular provision should not be extrapolated as evidence of independent decision-making authority over the entire contract."

Min Heejin argued that the court's recognition of the validity of the exclusive contracts was a separate matter from who had the authority to draft and approve them. Her side said, "The fact that the court recognized the validity of the contracts does not fully explain how substantive authority to draft and approve them was divided between HYBE and ADOR."

Min Heejin criticized HYBE's multi-label system, saying the parent company held the authority to draft and approve key contract provisions while external responsibility was concentrated on the label that was a party to the contract. She said, "Designing a system in which a subsidiary's CEO cannot approve something without HYBE's CEO's approval, then distributing a statement that shifts the blame onto someone else, is like spitting in your own face."

She added, "HYBE should now move beyond the absurd 'Min Heejin is behind everything' narrative and show accountability and a willingness to improve for the future of K-pop." She called on the company to "clearly explain whether ADOR could change key provisions and finalize a contract without HYBE's consent" if it intended to describe its role as merely providing contract forms and legal advice.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.