Min Hee-jin "HYBE Betrayed Me" vs HYBE "Too Many Untrue Claims" (Summary)

Min Hee-jin Emergency Press Conference
"They even spied on my KakaoTalk messages to kill me"
"I am a salaried boss... If I don't like my workplace, can't I complain?"

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, is making a statement on the 25th at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, regarding the conflict with the parent company HYBE. Earlier, HYBE announced the results of an interim audit on ADOR's management, including CEO Min Hee-jin, and stated that they would file charges against them for breach of duty and other allegations. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore, who is under suspicion of attempting to seize company management rights, stated, "I have never planned, intended, or executed a takeover of management rights." He particularly disparaged Hive's claim that the company was attempted to be seized through the Singapore Investment Corporation or the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund as a 'farce,' adding, "The level is too low."

On the 25th at 3 p.m., Min held an emergency press conference at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to address the allegations of management rights seizure that Hive has been asserting.

He said, "I was already made out to be a witch," adding, "My first task is to remove this frame. The second is to tell what the truth is. The angle I see and the angle Hive sees are very different."

He continued, "I wonder if suddenly, if I die, people will be happy. I am human too, and I believe I am innocent," and said, "I expected that they would even spy on my personal KakaoTalk messages unrelated to the essence to try to kill me, but I did not expect it to be this severe."

He then said, "I don't know why Hive is doing this to me to this extent," and "I want to ask why Hive is trying so hard to make me look like a strange person," sharply criticizing.

Prior to the press conference, Hive announced the interim audit results on Adore's management team, which has been ongoing since the 22nd. According to the audit results, Hive secured concrete facts and evidence regarding the plan to seize management rights led by Adore's CEO. One of the audit subjects submitted information assets containing evidence of the management rights seizure plan and contact with external investors during the investigation and admitted to preparing documents attacking Hive.

Min said, "Hive is focusing on management rights seizure, but when I first heard it, it didn't resonate. I wondered what kind of management rights seizure this is," adding, "It seems they took some of the KakaoTalk content between me and the vice president through PC forensics and talked about various circumstances, but from my perspective, it feels like a ridiculous farce."

Regarding Hive's active audit, Min speculated, "It's because I made an internal whistleblowing," adding, "I hoped it would become official and that improvements would be made." He continued, "If you look at the full story, there is a history accumulated with us that you don't know. From your perspective, I am already a sinner, but from my perspective, Park Ji-won, the CEO of Hive who is attacking me now, was someone who used to speak informally and be close with me until recently," and said, "People who knew me until recently are now attacking me fiercely, so I wonder where this started."

Min said, "I joined as BigHit's CBO and never intended to seize management rights. I am an employee. A salaried CEO. I don't know why a salaried CEO who works so hard caused trouble, but if an employee doesn't like their workplace, they can complain, right?" He added, "I have no such intention and have never done it. This cannot be embezzlement."

Min's legal representative, who was present that day, also said, "Embezzlement is established when an act that damages company value is actually committed, but no act that damages such value was found to have been attempted, intended, or executed," adding, "Embezzlement has no preparatory offense. Even a preparatory offense must reach a level where realization is possible to be established."

When explaining the suspicion of trying to receive investment from the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, Min showed an agitated demeanor, occasionally mixing in profanity. Min said, "Didn't Hive talk about the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund? That's just imagination, and how ridiculous does this all feel?" He added, "Those 'gaejeossi' (gae + ajeossi, roughly 'jerk uncles') viciously exposed all kinds of KakaoTalk messages to kill me, so I didn't want to respond one-on-one. The level is too low." He also said, "Honestly, I don't care if I get kicked out without receiving stocks. As long as I'm not a bad person."

Regarding the claim that he said 'BTS copied mine,' Min denied, saying, "I never said that." He said, "Hive wrote it as if 'BTS copied mine' to avoid defamation. People who don't know will frame me and imagine me as someone trying to seize management rights."

Min also announced that he would sue over Hive's claim of 'Min's shamanistic management,' calling it personal surveillance. Earlier, Hive released a press statement just before Min's press conference, stating, "Through Min's forensics, we secured evidence that Min received coaching on major company management matters from a female shaman and implemented them."

Min explained, "She was originally an acquaintance but just a shaman," adding, "Is it not allowed to be an acquaintance if she is a shaman? Is a shaman an untouchable? I went to her with the intention because I was seeing a psychiatrist due to Hive but didn't feel relief." Min countered, "Those people (Hive) go to see shamans more. They are the ones doing rituals, so they are pushing this."

Min also revealed KakaoTalk conversations with Chairman Bang Si-hyuk that day. When Chairman Bang asked Min, "Can you step on aespa?" Min replied, "I am not someone who steps on others." Min said, "After NewJeans rose with 'OMG,' Chairman Bang never congratulated me once. I never felt at ease a single day while working at Hive. It was a daily fight. Hive needs to reflect."

Min claimed, "The mothers of the NewJeans members were also dissatisfied with Hive. CEO Park Ji-won asked not to promote NewJeans before LE SSERAFIM debuted. He said we should make people think it's Min Hee-jin's group. I thought, 'Even if you interfere, I can do well on my own.' So, we were boycotted from promotion for 3 to 4 months."

Hive is initiating an audit of the management of Adore, a subsidiary to which the group NewJeans belongs, leading to conflicts. The photo shows the Hive headquarters in Yongsan. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Immediately after Min's press conference, Hive released an official statement saying, "There are so many untrue claims made by CEO Min Hee-jin at the press conference that it is difficult to list them all."

They added, "Min distorted the facts in public by mixing up timelines and using his characteristic distorted interpretative mechanism," and "We can refute all claims with evidence but have decided not to address each one as it is not worth responding."

Hive respectfully requested, "We ask Min to stop lying such as 'there was no proposal for dialogue' and 'no email response,' return the information assets as requested, and promptly cooperate with the audit," adding, "Since Min has already proven himself unqualified as a manager, we urge him to resign quickly for the normal management of Adore." They also added, "Please stop continuously mentioning artists and their parents as it damages the artists' value."