Former Judge Turned Lawyer: "Min Hee-jin Guilty of Breach of Trust? Rather, Bang Si-hyuk May Have Grounds for Breach of Trust"

"Rather, HYBE May Be Guilty of Breach of Fiduciary Duty," Lawyers Say "Difficult to Establish Breach of Fiduciary Duty if Still in Discussion Stage"

As the dispute between Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, the agency managing girl group NewJeans, and its parent company HYBE intensifies, legal experts have argued that the embezzlement charges HYBE filed against Min are unlikely to hold.

Lee Hyun-gon, a former family court judge and representative lawyer at Saeol Law Firm (29th Judicial Research and Training Institute), posted on his Facebook on the 26th, stating, “I do not understand whether HYBE’s claims meet the legal requirements for embezzlement,” and added, “The claim of a hostile takeover has no legal significance.”

Lee criticized, saying, “Legally, Min is the manager of ADOR,” and “If anything, she was attempting to establish ADOR’s management independence, so I don’t understand the logic behind calling that embezzlement.”

He further pointed out, “Hostile M&As are also conducted legally, and even if Min brought in external investors to increase her shareholding, regardless of whether it was executed, it wouldn’t cause damage to the company.”

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, is speaking at a press conference announcing the company's position held on the afternoon of the 25th at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee argued that rather, HYBE or Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE’s board, might be the ones liable for embezzlement. Although HYBE is ADOR’s parent company and major shareholder, the subsidiaries have different shareholder structures and are independent legal entities. Therefore, if the parent company freely takes know-how from a subsidiary and applies it to another subsidiary (Belif Lab), it could constitute gratuitous embezzlement.

On the 25th, the day HYBE filed the complaint and Min held a press conference, Lee criticized HYBE, saying, “It is hard to tolerate such petty actions just to implicate one person,” while also posting words of support for Min.

Earlier, HYBE stated, “After conducting an audit of ADOR, we confirmed specific facts and secured evidence that a plan to seize management rights was established under Min’s leadership,” and on the 25th, filed a police complaint against Min for embezzlement and other charges.