ADOR CEO, Min Hee-Jin attends a press conference at Korea conference center on April 25, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.against the executive last month. The decision will keep Min in her role as CEO, by extension allowing her to stay in control of the label’s sole artist, girl groupfrom local Korean coverage, “The Seoul Central District Court said HYBE’s evidence and rationale were not sufficient to back the company’s case for Min’s dismissal.
In its own statement, HYBE acknowledged the court’s decision and said it would not utilize its voting rights but vowed to “follow up within the framework of the law.” The companythat the court admitted Min had sought ways to weaken HYBE’s control over ADOR — efforts that could have led to Min independently running ADOR, taking NewJeans out of the HYBE system or pressuring HYBE to sell its shares in the subsidiary label.
Despite the court ruling, the ongoing K-pop power struggle is hardly resolved, and in fact has only widened since HYBE’s initial audit in April. Following HYBE’s request for her to exit her role as ADOR CEO, Min held an emotional two-hour press conference in which she detailed her concerns and struggles with other teams in the HYBE LABELS system. As, Min’s “pushback against HYBE and its founder, Bang Si-Hyuk, has resonated widely in South Korea, where corporate life can be punishingly hierarchal.