On September 26 KST, media outlet JoongAng Ilbo published an exclusive interview with Min Hee Jin, former executive director of ADOR.
In the interview, Min Hee Jin claimed, "After the court approved my injunction request to prevent my dismissal at the extraordinary board meeting in May, HYBE offered me money to leave the company. However, because my objective in this was not money, I refused."
Min Hee Jin also added, "The core of this dispute has nothing to do with anything so grandiose as the growth of the company or improvement of the existing system. It is nothing more than a public execution ordered by the chairman of a parent company who felt emotionally offended by a subsidiary company."
According to Min Hee Jin, HYBE further attempted to "distort the truth" about the success of NewJeans in Japan and "sent articles slandering her reputation to overseas journalists."
In response to Min Hee Jin's claims in the JoongAng Ilbo interview, HYBE spoke up with the following rebuttals.
According to HYBE:
"1. HYBE never offered Min Hee Jin money to leave the company.
2. The internal audit was launched based on reliable evidence and was not 'illegally ordered' as Min Hee Jin claims.
3. Min Hee Jin and ADOR exercised more freedom from HYBE's interference and received more funding, support, quality treatment, and promotional assistance than any other sub-label. In other words, HYBE did not 'violate its promise to not interfere in Min Hee Jin's label', as claimed.
4. HYBE never sent articles to overseas journalists slandering Min Hee Jin.
5. Regarding the correction articles on NewJeans' album sales, HYBE only intended to clarify that the certification rewarded by the Recording Industry Association of Japan was based on the number of albums shipped, not the number of albums sold."
