HYBE v. Min Hee-jin: Lawsuit to Confirm Termination of Shareholders’ Agreement, 5th Hearing & Lawsuit for Stock Purchase Payment, 3rd Hearing – Examination of the Parties for Min Hee-jin
On the afternoon of November 27, Civil Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Nam In-soo) held a hearing for the lawsuit to confirm the termination of the shareholders’ agreement filed by HYBE against former CEO Min, as well as the lawsuit for stock purchase payment related to the exercise of the put option (right to sell shares) filed by former CEO Min against HYBE. On this day, former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin appeared in person, and the examination of the parties lasted approximately five hours.
📌 Trial Overview and Courtroom Atmosphere
◦Lawsuit Title: Lawsuit to confirm termination of shareholders’ agreement and lawsuit for stock purchase payment of approximately 26 billion won
◦Court: Seoul Central District Court, Civil Division 31 (Presiding Judge Nam In-soo)
◦Date: November 27, 2025, 3:00 PM~ (approximately 5 hours)
◦Main Parties: Plaintiff (HYBE Corporation), Defendant (Min Hee-jin, former ADOR CEO)
◦Courtroom Atmosphere and Notable Incidents:
–During the courtroom proceedings, tensions between HYBE’s side and former CEO Min were sharp. When former CEO Min interrupted HYBE’s questions or responded emotionally with “Yes, yes,” HYBE’s legal representative remarked, “That’s bad.”
–The court first admonished HYBE’s legal representative, sternly warning, “Do not respond emotionally. Expressions like ‘that’s bad’ are not appropriate for trial.” The court then also instructed former CEO Min to “listen to the questions carefully and answer first with ‘yes/no/I don’t know’ before adding any necessary explanation.”
📌 Plaintiff (HYBE) Examination Content
◦Financial Scale of Put Option Multiple Increase: HYBE’s side pointed out that former CEO Min requested an increase in the put option multiple from 13x to 30x, pressing her with, “Did you know that at 30x, the amount would become 137 billion won?” and claimed she was pursuing excessive personal gain.
◦Management Takeover Attempt (Project 1945): They presented the ‘Project 1945’ document written by ADOR’s Vice President, along with KakaoTalk conversations from a month prior in which the two discussed finding weaknesses of executives and strategies to create division, arguing that this was a planned management takeover and independence attempt.
◦Pointing Out Contradictions in Claims of Independent Action: They pressured her by arguing that the Vice President’s claim of writing the document alone was inconsistent, given that the Vice President was in a position where they reported everything to former CEO Min.
📌 Defendant (Min Hee-jin) Testimony and Claims
1. Background of Joining HYBE: “Persistent Courtship and Phone Call with Parents”
◦Persistent Recruitment and Information Source: Former CEO Min stated, “Just two days after I left SM on December 31, 2018, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk personally contacted me.” Chairman Bang surprised former CEO Min by saying he “had heard about my resignation in advance through an internal source at SM,” and former CEO Min testified that “it was an extraordinary level of courtship, almost to the point of getting on his knees.”
◦The Truth About the Phone Call with Her Parents: During a meal, her parents called former CEO Min, and while she was on the phone, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk requested to speak with her parents directly and took the phone. During this call, Chairman Bang persuaded them by saying, “I will let your daughter do whatever she wants to her heart’s content. I will provide unlimited support. I really hope she comes to HYBE.”
◦Mentioning GLAM’s Failure: Chairman Bang mentioned the past failure of the girl group ‘GLAM,’ repeatedly stating, “CEO So Sung-jin and I failed badly with GLAM before. I’m not confident about trying again with a girl group, so I absolutely need Min Hee-jin’s help.”
◦Reason for Choosing HYBE: At the time, there were many offers from other companies including Kakao Entertainment, but she chose HYBE because of Chairman Bang’s “overwhelming courtship” and promises of full support.
2. Conflicts During Production: “Distrust of So Sung-jin and Forcing Billie Eilish Style”
◦Dismissing CEO So Sung-jin’s Abilities: Before she joined, Chairman Bang evaluated that “acquiring Source Music was for its management capabilities, not production capabilities. CEO So Sung-jin lacks production ability.” Nevertheless, he insisted on a three-way collaboration between ‘Bang Si-hyuk–So Sung-jin–Min Hee-jin,’ and former CEO Min testified, “He emphasized that there were trainees, but I was forced into collaboration without having seen any of the trainees even once. I repeatedly requested to start with my own label.”
◦Intent Behind Recruiting Sakura and Kim Chaewon: Regarding the recruitment of the two members, she said, “I think it was considering marketability,” while also noting, “I think HYBE wanted to use my reputation, which is well-known in the entertainment industry. I wanted to correct the misunderstanding that I was the one producing.”
◦Differences in Musical Vision (Billie Eilish): Chairman Bang specifically stated that he “wanted a hyperpop genre like Billie Eilish.” However, former CEO Min opposed this, judging it inappropriate given the trainees’ characteristics and market potential at the time, which led to a year of back-and-forth via email.
◦Loss of Direction and Demo Rejection: Afterward, Chairman Bang said he would take responsibility for the music, but one day said, “I don’t know what kind of music we should make. I’ve lost direction.” When former CEO Min presented demos she had personally organized, including ‘Attention’ and ‘Hurt,’ Chairman Bang rejected them, saying “I can feel the remnants of SM.” (She explained that the proposal written during this process was the document later leaked during the ILLIT plagiarism controversy.)
3. Broken Promises and Discriminatory Treatment: “Thug-like Decisions and Contempt”
◦Debut Order Reversal and “Treated Like Baggage”: She received notification from former CEO Park Ji-won that “LE SSERAFIM must debut first, so Min Hee-jin’s team should be moved to Source Music’s next team.” Former CEO Min said she “was unhappy with the kids being moved around like baggage,” and at the time strongly protested to former CEO Park, saying “This is a decision that makes the company’s image look like thugs.” Former CEO Park apologized, saying it was “the decision of Bang Si-hyuk and So Sung-jin.”
◦Email Sent to Bang Si-hyuk: Former CEO Min revealed that she sent an email to Chairman Bang saying, “Was the reason you offered me a position so you could copy me freely? Did you think I couldn’t do anything while inside the company? Don’t look down on us.”
◦ILLIT Copying and Contempt: After the ILLIT teaser was released, NewJeans members’ parents contacted former CEO Min to tell her that “acquaintances saw the ILLIT photos and thought it was NewJeans, asking ‘why isn’t your daughter in there?’” Former CEO Min argued the legitimacy of raising the issue, saying “having a copying problem arise within the same company is contempt toward us.”
◦PR and Advertising Interference: She claimed that “HYBE’s PR team did not properly promote NewJeans’ achievements, and the advertising team tried to redirect advertisements meant for NewJeans to other labels.”
4. Put Option and Departure: “It Was Hell, But I Endured for NewJeans”
◦Reason for Early Departure: She acknowledged there were attempts to dissuade her, saying “if you just endure one more quarter until 2025, the put option payment will triple (over 100 billion won),” and pressure saying “if you leave now, you’re giving up 20 billion won.”
◦Tearful Appeal: Former CEO Min shed tears in court, saying “It was hell at that company HYBE, but I endured because of NewJeans.” She emphasized, “100 billion won doesn’t even register with me, and I don’t need it. The mental anguish was too great, so I had no choice but to leave. It’s unfair and infuriating to be vilified over money.”
◦Background of the 30x Multiple Request: Former CEO Min prefaced her explanation of the 30x put option request by saying “it wasn’t greed for money but desperate feelings of betrayal.”
–“I belatedly learned about the non-compete clause (cannot dispose of shares without HYBE’s consent, and if I hold shares, I cannot work in the same industry for life) and realized it was a slave contract I couldn’t escape from.”
–“The 30x put option was a justified desire for compensation for their deception in trying to mortgage my life and for the humiliation and obstruction I experienced at HYBE. It wasn’t about making money; it was about getting payback for tormenting me.”
–“My attorney proposed it under comprehensive authorization. I didn’t even calculate whether it would amount to 137 billion won.”
5. Ownership Structure and IPO Tool Theory: “Bang Si-hyuk’s Order to ‘Start with 0% Stake’”
◦Starting with 0% Stake: She testified that when ADOR was established, Chairman Bang Si-hyuk directly said, “It must start as a 100% HYBE subsidiary, so Min Hee-jin’s stake must be 0%.” Instead, she received stock options, and former CEO Min claimed, “Chairman Bang Si-hyuk used me as a sacrifice to inflate HYBE’s corporate value and achieve a successful IPO.” She compared it to “the drama ‘Delicious Revenge,’ where a famous restaurant is franchised and core personnel are discarded.”
◦Purpose of Stock Options: She stated, “I was planning to distribute the stock options to employees anyway, so I didn’t care if they became worthless.”
◦Restrictions on Selling Shares: “Even selling my stake (18%) requires HYBE’s permission. If I had just endured for three more months, the payment would have tripled, but I gave it up and left because of the suffering,” she said, refuting claims of greed.
6. Refuting Various Allegations Including Management Takeover
◦Impossibility of Management Takeover: “I only have an 18% stake. A management takeover without HYBE’s permission is impossible. I don’t understand why they’re writing such absurd fiction,” she refuted. She added, “If I say I want to burn down the company, does that make me an arsonist? I’ve come all the way here over something that makes no sense,” appealing her frustration.
◦World Tour Plans and Contract Termination: Regarding claims that the NewJeans members’ declaration of exclusive contract termination was her instruction, she refuted, “I had even planned NewJeans’ world tour, so there was nothing to gain from contract termination. If I had just stayed still, I could have received the put option, so why would I do that?”
◦Claims of Directing Hanni’s National Assembly Audit Appearance: She criticized the claims as “insulting,” saying “NewJeans members are smart and don’t move just because someone tells them to.” She said, “I just wanted to accompany her as an inside director because I felt sorry for Hanni going alone.”
◦Tampering Reports (Dispatch): She harshly criticized the outlet as “a yellow journalism outlet at the level of a stalker that even followed me, and one that is in a collusive relationship with HYBE.” Regarding her non-response, she said, “It’s strange to respond to an outlet that doesn’t even verify facts. I just ignored them.”
◦Background of *You Quiz on the Block* Appearance: She emphasized it was a self-help measure against PR control, saying, “The company was blocking NewJeans’ promotion, so I couldn’t wait any longer. I personally contacted the writer and appeared on the show, telling them ‘something came up.’”
7. Contesting the Workplace Harassment Fine
◦Explanation: She revealed she is contesting the fine (3 million won) imposed by the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office. Former CEO Min claimed, “I did make those remarks (‘rice bowl,’ ‘slow,’ ‘fool,’ ‘elementary schooler’), but I didn’t make them repeatedly in a short period. Some of the harsh words were also me talking to myself, and victim A was someone introduced by an acquaintance who said they were a fan, and we had agreed to be comfortable with each other, but the full context was ignored.”
8. Unfairness of Dismissal
◦Achievements Ignored: She was abruptly dismissed without prior notice right after achieving exceptional results such as the Tokyo Dome fan meeting.
◦Poison Pill Contract: She criticized the producing contract offered after her dismissal as “a contract designed to torment me, with an ultra-short 2-month term and poison pill clauses allowing dismissal at any time.”
📌 Upcoming Schedule
◦December 18, 2025: Next hearing
◦January 15, 2026: Closing hearing
◦Early 2026: First trial ruling expected
🔗 Reference Links