The group NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Danielle, and Hyein) announced that they would terminate their exclusive contract with their agency, ADOR. The conflict, which began earlier this year with allegations by HYBE accusing former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin of “usurping management rights,” has now escalated into an exclusive contract dispute involving Korea’s most popular K-pop girl group.

On the evening of November 28, NewJeans held an emergency press conference at SpaceShare in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. They declared, “The exclusive contract between NewJeans and ADOR will be terminated at exactly midnight on the 29th.” All five members attended the press conference. Taking turns, the members briefly introduced themselves before delivering their prepared statements, reading from laptops and iPads.

“ADOR has a duty to protect NewJeans, but it has neither the will nor the ability to do so,” Hanni said. “It’s a waste of time and causes us ongoing mental anguish to stay here. Since there’s nothing to gain professionally, there’s absolutely no reason for us to remain with ADOR.”

“It’s unacceptable for us to maintain an exclusive contract with ADOR after all trust has been broken,” Minji said.

However, the members stated they currently have no plans to file a preliminary injunction with the court to terminate their contract. “We are terminating the contract because ADOR and HYBE have violated it, and once the contract is terminated, the exclusive contract becomes invalid,” Minji explained. “We don’t see any reason to file for a provisional injunction.” As for their future plans, she said, “We intend to carry out our scheduled activities, and of course, we want to continue working with CEO Min Hee-jin.”

About an hour before the press conference, ADOR reportedly sent an email response to the proof of content submitted by the NewJeans members. Regarding the response, Minji stated, “It was just lies and excuses, claiming they didn’t have enough time to take action, that they were sad about what happened, and that they couldn’t act—not that they actually did anything.” While the members stated they don’t see the need to pursue legal action at this time, a legal battle over the contract termination appears inevitable depending on HYBE’sresponse.

The dispute between NewJeans and ADOR did not come as a surprise. On the 13th, NewJeans members sent a letter of demand to ADOR, including a request for the reinstatement of Min as CEO of ADOR. They also warned that they would take steps to terminate their exclusive contract if the company failed to fulfill their demands within the 14-day deadline.

NewJeans debuted in 2022 as a girl group under HYBE’slabel ADOR. The group garnered significant attention as the first group to debut under HYBE after Min left SM Entertainment to join the company.