Reports on Allegations of Contact Between Naver, Dunamu, and Min Hee-jin

First, I would like to address the Naver and Dunamu matter.

My acquaintance, Mr. A, invited me to dinner at 7:30 PM on March 6, 2024.

Mr. A told me that some of his longtime friends would be joining us and not to feel uncomfortable. The acquaintances of Mr. A whom I met were older than me and easygoing people.

During the meal, one of Mr. A’s acquaintances mentioned that they had invited another acquaintance, and I had no idea who was coming at the time. About an hour later, that person arrived, and at first, I didn’t even know who they were. When they introduced themselves, I learned they were Mr. C from Dunamu, and I recalled that this was someone who had previously expressed through Chairman Bang Si-hyuk that they wanted to meet me. That person said they found out I would be at this dinner and wanted to join. They said they were very interested in NewJeans and were curious about me as the producer. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Mr. B from Naver, who happened to be friends with all the attendees, was also contacted and ended up joining. Independent of my intentions, that was how everyone came together, and the gathering concluded as a private occasion unrelated to investment—something all attendees present that day can attest to.

Contrary to HYBE’s grandiose media campaign, surprisingly, that was the entirety of my meeting with Mr. C from Dunamu.

HYBE was not present at that meeting, so on what basis are they making these false claims?

Mr. C mentioned wanting to come to the NewJeans Tokyo Dome concert, and my subsequent communication with them consisted only of brief exchanges about the Tokyo Dome concert. With Mr. B as well, we only exchanged a few messages sharing personal concerns.

On my way home after dinner, I told Vice President L about the people I had coincidentally met that day, and upon hearing this, Vice President L and I had a vague conversation about how it might be better for both HYBE and ADOR if a company like Dunamu—which had already invested in HYBE—became ADOR’s owner instead. However, this idea is realistically unfeasible. Above all, we know better than anyone that this cannot be realized without HYBE’s consent. Since I had just met Mr. C from Dunamu for the first time that day, there was no way we could have even discussed such matters.

Setting aside feasibility, when I heard this at the time, I felt a brief moment of relief.

As ADOR’s CEO, I had been feeling that ADOR was like a victim of subtle bullying and ostracism—”eundda”—within HYBE. I don’t know if it can be considered a crime to have imagined escaping from an abuser I couldn’t get away from.

We don’t live in a world where thoughts are policed, so I really don’t understand what the problem is supposed to be. It makes me want to police the thoughts of HYBE’s executives myself.

After joining ADOR, Vice President L said they were surprised to learn how much suffering ADOR had been enduring from HYBE, even though they had been within the same HYBE organization. They asked me, “How have you been managing all this time?” For this reason, Vice President L and I had only been discussing ways to avoid the various forms of harassment from HYBE and how to respond, but HYBE captured and edited these conversations, maliciously using them as if we had engaged in some grand conspiracy and execution.

I still can’t believe I’m in a situation where I have to explain the story of a private gathering at such length, as if defending myself against charges of high treason.

By the way, have you found the identity of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that you were so seriously claiming about?

I am also astonished that HYBE is dragging in people who are also their own acquaintances, putting them in an awkward position and exploiting the situation.

These were people I met for the first time by chance at a dinner with an acquaintance—does it even make sense that I would propose an acquisition? I repeat: if definitive fact-checking is needed on this matter, I request a four-party meeting including HYBE.

I have never made such a proposal to Naver or Dunamu, so HYBE should check with Naver or Dunamu whether they have ever received an acquisition proposal. Don’t just confirm the “meeting” like a play on words—confirm “the purpose of the meeting and the conversations that took place.”

Regardless of the facts, based on past experience, I thought there might be misleading article headlines like “Min Admits to Meeting Naver and Dunamu Anyway”—that’s why I’m mentioning this.

You surely know that when I said “I never met with investors,” I meant “I never met with them for the purpose of seizing management control,” but I’m saying this in hopes that you won’t be fooled by such obvious wordplay.

People can hold various social positions—CEO, lawyer, doctor, teacher, and so on. For example, if it’s a school parent meeting, even if an investment company CEO shows up, the gathering is still just a parent meeting—it cannot become a lawyer meeting or an investor meeting.

Even if I had met with investors, what exactly is the problem with a company’s CEO or Vice President meeting with investors? Does HYBE interrogate and suspect the heads of its other subsidiaries like this when they meet with investors? Have you audited all those people who frequently visit hostess bars and room salons to entertain investors and business partners?