NewJeans has been making headlines with their sudden announcement to terminate their exclusive contract with ADOR. However, this decision may come with a hefty price tag – a contract termination penalty estimated to be around 450 to 620 billion won.
On November 28, all five NewJeans members held a press conference in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. They announced that they will be terminating their exclusive contract with ADOR at midnight on November 29.
At the press conference, reporters asked them about the hefty penalty amount that they may have to pay upon exclusive contract termination.
Regarding the estimated cancellation penalty of about 450 to 620 billion won, Haerin stated, “I’ve seen several articles about the penalty, but I believe there is absolutely no reason to pay it since we have not violated the exclusive contract and have been doing our best in our activities so far.”
She added, “I think the responsibility lies with ADOR and HYBE for this situation, as they have violated the contract.”
Hyein addressed concerns about the group’s name and intellectual property rights. They said the members may not be able to use the name NewJeans for a while. However, they have no intention of giving up on the name as it represents their journey and accomplishments. They plan to work towards securing the rights to the name fairly.
The group holds HYBE and ADOR responsible for the contract termination and will move forward with ending their exclusive contract.
On the other hand, ADOR stated that they have not breached the contract and it is still valid. The label stated that they tried to arrange meetings with NewJeans several times, however, were not successful. They requested the group to continue their scheduled work as usual under the supervision of ADOR.