K-pop group NewJeans to terminate contracts if agency Ador does not meet demands in 14 days
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NewJeans have threatened to end their contracts with Ador if the agency does not meet their demands, including the reinstatement of ex-Ador CEO Min Hee-jin.
PHOTO: NEWJEANS_OFFICIAL/INSTAGRAM
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SEOUL – K-pop girl group NewJeans sent a certification of contents on Nov 13 to their agency Ador, stating they would terminate their exclusive contracts if the agency did not address certain demands, including the return of former Ador chief executive Min Hee-jin.
In their list of demands, the quintet stated various requests, asking Ador to “rectify all major contract violations within 14 days from the receipt of this letter”.
The members of NewJeans – Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Hyein and Danielle – pointed out that an internal Hybe document, recently brought to light during an 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 of another Hybe artiste, who allegedly told others to ignore Vietnamese-Australian member Hanni.
They additionally demanded the removal of videos and photos that were used without consent and called for the resolution of a dispute with Mr Shin Woo-seok, CEO of Dolphiners Films, who had produced several of NewJeans’ music videos.
NewJeans urged Ador to preserve the group’s unique identity and creative works, and to reinstate Ms Min as a CEO.
Through the certification of contents, the group said: “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 emphasised that they would each terminate their exclusive contracts if Ador did not comply with their collective demands.
Ador has yet to respond. Both Ador and parent company Hybe had stated multiple times that reinstating Ms Min as CEO is out of the question. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
