The long-running legal war between former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin and HYBE reached its first major conclusion on February 12, 2026. The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Min, ordering HYBE to pay her approximately 25.5 billion won (around $18 million) in stock purchase proceeds. The court also dismissed the company’s claim that the shareholder agreement had been validly terminated.
The court not only rejected every one of their arguments but also ordered them to cover the legal costs. Min, who founded her own agency, OOAK Records, last year, has been fighting this battle since April 2024.
The Court Rules in Favor of ADOR
The dispute began over a shareholder agreement and a put option connected to ADOR. Min Hee Jin had filed a lawsuit demanding payment for her 18 percent stake in ADOR, which she exercised after resigning as an internal director in November 2024. HYBE argued the agreement was terminated in July 2024 and that Min had breached her contract.
The ruling confirmed that exploring independence or negotiating with investors does not automatically count as a contract breach.
Key Issues in the Case
The court carefully examined several aspects of the case, including independence and put option calculation.
Control and Independence
The main issue during the year-and-a-half-long legal battle was whether Min Her Jin’s move to make ADOR independent amounted to a breach of her shareholder agreement with HYBE.
HYBE claimed Min Hee Jin tried to spin off ADOR, take NewJeans with her, and weaken the company’s 80 percent stake. Evidence showed Min had explored options and met with investors, but nothing was executed without HYBE’s consent.
The court stated plainly that it was “difficult to view her actions as intending to bring harm or damages to ADOR.”
The Put Option Calculation
The put option was written into Min Hee Jin’s original shareholder agreement with HYBE. Under the contract, if she exercised this right, HYBE was obligated to buy her 18 percent stake in ADOR at a price calculated by a specific formula. She was allowed to receive 75 percent of her 18 percent stake based on ADOR’s average operating profit over the previous two years multiplied by 13.
When the ex-ADOR CEO resigned as internal director in November 2024, she immediately notified HYBE that she was exercising the option. Based on ADOR’s financial performance, she was entitled to roughly 26 billion won.
HYBE refused to pay, stating that they terminated the shareholder agreement back in July 2024, so the put option no longer exists.
The court disagreed, stating that Min Hee Jin did not materially breach the contract; therefore, HYBE had no right to terminate it unilaterally. Therefore, the put option was valid when she exercised it.
ILLIT and Plagiarism Allegations
Her legal dispute with HYBE began around the same time ILLIT debuted. The most public-facing dispute was when Min Hee Jin raised concerns that HYBE’s other girl group, ILLIT, copied NewJeans’ concept. The court said her statements were opinions and not defamatory.
It stated that Min’s raising of plagiarism suspicions was “a mere value judgment or expression of opinion.”
The court noted that fans and even NewJeans members’ parents had submitted petitions expressing similar concerns about the similarities between the two groups.
More surprisingly, the court also addressed Min’s exposure of “album pushing out” practices at HYBE. The ruling stated that “it appears that HYBE encouraged album pushing out, and raising the issue contributed to establishing order in album distribution.” The court considered these actions as legitimate business judgment, not contract breaches.
KakaoTalk Messages
HYBE built much of its case around private KakaoTalk conversations extracted from company devices during their April 2024 audit. Her legal team fought hard to have this evidence excluded, arguing it was obtained improperly.
The court ruled against her on this specific point. Since the messages were obtained through a standard subsidiary business audit and voluntarily returned by the parties, the court found the evidence admissible. This was one of the few areas where Min did not prevail.
Even though the court allowed HYBE to present KakaoTalk messages as evidence, they did not prove a material breach.
The Shaman Controversy and Other Allegations
Throughout the litigation, HYBE raised multiple other allegations against Min Hee Jin. Internal transcripts suggested she had consulted a shaman who made predictions about BTS members’ military service. Messages included phrases like “let’s take it back after three years,” which HYBE argued showed long-term planning to seize control.
The former ADOR CEO dismissed these conversations as meaningless and taken out of context. The court did not appear to give these allegations significant weight in its final ruling.
HYBE also presented evidence that Min had contacted Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund about potential investment. Min Hee Jin responded that receiving a high purchase offer “would not, in itself, be problematic” and described the discussions as “just talk“.
Another issue involved ADOR’s partner company BANA, and its CEO, whom she confirmed was her former romantic partner. HYBE alleged that contract renewals increasingly favored BANA, with the firm receiving 33 million won monthly even during periods of minimal active work.
Min defended this as a matter of competence and performance, not a personal relationship.
Separately, she faced workplace harassment allegations from a former ADOR employee. In March 2025, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office fined her for behavior that “met the threshold of workplace harassment.” Min has appealed this ruling.
The NewJeans Situation
One of the most complicated aspects of this entire saga is that Min Hee Jin and NewJeans, the group she created and nurtured, have now gone their separate ways.
Three members — Hanni, Hyein, and Haerin — returned to ADOR after a period of contract dispute. Minji remains in discussions with the company. Danielle’s exclusive contract was terminated, and ADOR has filed a damages lawsuit seeking approximately $30 million against Danielle’s family member and Min Hee-jin.
Min Hee Jin, meanwhile, has launched her own agency called OOAK and announced auditions for a new boy band. She is moving forward with a new chapter, independent of both HYBE and the group she made famous.
What Comes Next
This ruling is a first-instance decision. HYBE may appeal the decision, given the stakes and the company’s previous statements about continuing litigation.
The legal war is far from over. Source Music is still pursuing a 500 million won defamation lawsuit against Min Hee Jin over her April 2024 press conference statements. ILLIT’s agency Belift Lab, has its own 2 billion won claim. HYBE has appealed the police decision clearing Min of criminal breach of trust charges.
For now, though, Min Hee Jin has won the biggest battle. The court looked at the evidence, weighed the arguments, and concluded that she did not break her contract. HYBE must pay her 25.5 billion won, and the shareholder agreement she signed years ago has been upheld.
