Min Hee-jin Proposes Adoer Acquisition in Meetings with Naver and Dunamu Executives

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, drinks water while 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 ADOR, has been confirmed to have contacted a leading domestic portal company and a virtual asset exchange to discuss matters related to the acquisition of the company.

According to the legal and entertainment industries on the 17th, during the hearing of the injunction lawsuit to prohibit the exercise of voting rights held at the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 50 (Presiding Judge Kim Sang-hoon), the legal representative of HYBE mentioned that CEO Min met with N Company, a joint venture partner of HYBE, and D Company, a shareholder. Within the industry, N Company is presumed to be Naver, and D Company is presumed to be Dunamu.

HYBE suspects that after devising a plan to force ADOR to sell its shares to them, they met with senior executives of both companies. It is reported that CEO Min criticized HYBE during the meetings with both parties.

The fact that contacts were made with Naver and Dunamu is expected to work very unfavorably for CEO Min in future court battles. This contradicts Min’s previous claims that "I have never met any investor to seize management rights." HYBE is also known to have secured circumstantial evidence that Min instructed close associates to "organize investment destinations."

HYBE also pointed out that CEO Min showed a dual attitude regarding NewJeans on the same day. HYBE’s legal representative stated, "Although Min says she feels like a mother, she is only interested in the money NewJeans earns," and claimed, "She disparaged NewJeans members to her close associates, saying things like 'It’s difficult to treat NewJeans as artists and supporting them is dreadful,' and 'It’s disgusting but I’m enduring it.'"

HYBE further criticized, "(Min) relies excessively on shamans," adding, "When hiring employees, she consulted shamans about whether to hire them. The shaman even went so far as to request employee recruitment and sent resumes of specific individuals."

CEO Min’s side fully denied the allegations of management rights seizure, stating that HYBE conducted an excessive audit in retaliation for sending internal whistleblowing emails such as 'copying NewJeans.' Min’s legal representative argued, "They claim that sending internal whistleblowing emails was a personal act to damage trust between HYBE and ADOR and lower corporate value, but as the CEO of ADOR, neglecting the only affiliated artist, NewJeans, is a breach of duty, and trying to correct this cannot be a breach of duty." They added, "I have faithfully fulfilled my duty of care as ADOR’s CEO. All objections were reasonable."

Min’s side also rebutted HYBE’s claim that they are exploiting NewJeans’ parents, stating, "NewJeans’ parents were outraged by HYBE’s misconduct and urged them to protest to ADOR themselves. At meetings with HYBE executives, the parents said things like 'We started this' and 'We exchanged opinions among mothers and asked CEO Min,'” denying HYBE’s allegations of using NewJeans’ parents.

Meanwhile, ADOR’s extraordinary general meeting of shareholders will be held on the 31st. The agenda for the extraordinary general meeting is ‘Dismissal and new appointment of board members.’ If the court grants HYBE’s injunction request to prohibit the exercise of voting rights, HYBE’s voting rights will be blocked, making it impossible to dismiss CEO Min. If the request is dismissed, the dismissal process for Min will proceed.