"NewJeans Contract Termination? No One Can Stop It" ... Lawyer Former Judge

Hyun-Gon Lee, Saeol Law Office Attorney
"NewJeans, Sufficient Reasons to Terminate the Contract"

Group NewJeans announced that they would terminate their exclusive contract with their agency ADOR starting from midnight on the 29th, while ADOR stated that "the exclusive contract is still valid." Regarding this, a former judge turned lawyer said, "No one can stop NewJeans from becoming independent now."

Lee Hyun-gon, a former family court judge and lawyer at Saeol Law Office, wrote on his Facebook on the 28th, "NewJeans will not file a provisional injunction to terminate the exclusive contract. The most notable part of the press conference is that they will terminate the contract as of midnight today but will not file a lawsuit." He explained, "This is an unprecedented method. If they file a provisional injunction lawsuit, they cannot act until a conclusion is reached. However, they can leave without filing a lawsuit." He added, "In this case, ADOR will have to sue NewJeans, and NewJeans can just wait for that."

NewJeans member Hani (second from the right) is speaking at a press conference regarding the termination of the exclusive contract held on the afternoon of the 28th at SpaceShare Samsung Station Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

Earlier, NewJeans held an emergency press conference at SpaceShare Samsung Station Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, stating, "ADOR neither has the will nor the ability to protect NewJeans." Member Minji said, "We are terminating the contract because ADOR and HYBE violated the contract," and explained, "Once the contract is terminated, the exclusive effect no longer applies, so there is no obstacle to our activities. Since we can continue our activities steadily, we think there is no need to file lawsuits such as provisional injunctions."

Member Haerin spoke about penalties, saying, "We have not violated the exclusive contract and have done our best in our activities so far, so we believe there is absolutely no reason for us to pay penalties," adding, "Rather, this situation arose because ADOR and HYBE violated the contract, so naturally, the responsibility lies with ADOR and HYBE."

The group NewJeans is attending a press conference regarding the termination of their exclusive contract held on the afternoon of the 28th at SpaceShare Samsung Station Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. From left to right: Haerin, Danielle, Minji, Hani, Hyein. Photo by Yonhap News.

Some argued that since NewJeans unilaterally terminated the contract without a lawsuit, it would be difficult for them to leave the agency. Lawyer Lee refuted this as a "wrong claim." He said, "HYBE unilaterally notified Min Hee-jin of the termination of the shareholder agreement. Is it reasonable for oneself to do that but prevent others from doing the same?" He continued, "There is a difference between the two. HYBE unilaterally terminated the shareholder agreement without reason, while NewJeans terminated the contract with sufficient reason to leave. If that is different, then it is different."

Meanwhile, ADOR released a statement after NewJeans' press conference, claiming that the exclusive contract is still valid. ADOR expressed regret over "planning and conducting a contract termination press conference without sufficient review before receiving a reply to the certified mail," and rebutted, "ADOR, as the party to the exclusive contract, has not violated the contract, and claiming that trust was unilaterally broken does not constitute grounds for termination." They added, "The exclusive contract between ADOR and NewJeans members is still valid," and "Therefore, we hope that future schedules will continue to be with ADOR as before."