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NewJeans should be allowed to exit ADOR, lawyer argues, citing ‘human rights’ amid Min Hee Jin-HYBE dispute
An attorney argued that NewJeans should be allowed to leave ADOR as separation from Min Hee Jin was a breach of trust and contract. Know more.
The NewJeans vs ADOR legal and public dispute has been going on since the end of last year, after the group declared termination of their exclusive contract with the agency through a press conference, citing breach of trust. Recently, the girl group lost the injunction to ADOR and is set for a second hearing of their contract validity case. Ahead of that, attorney Jang Seo Yeon, a legal expert, took to social media to express his views that the girls had the right to leave ADOR, as reported by K-media Sports Trends on April 23.
Jang Seo Yeon, a lawyer from the non-profit GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation, wrote an opinion piece titled Why a High Level of Trust Matters in K-pop Idol Contracts. It included point by point explanation of the ongoing dispute between NewJeans and ADOR and why it was justified for the quintet to want to part ways with the label. According to her, K-pop artists are human beings before being public figures and they should have the freedom to decide if they want to work with someone or not.
“Idols are individuals first, and it is a basic human right to decide the people they work with creatively,” she wrote. As per her, the biggest betrayal from ADOR's side came after they separated former CEO Min Hee Jin from NewJeans. As Min Hee Jin was a trusted individual, the girls felt comfortable to work with, “The replacement of such key personnel without the members’ consent represents a fundamental breach of trust,” the lawyer stated. As per her, “In the absence of trust, idols must be granted the right to terminate their contracts."
The court verdict being in favour of ADOR was considered unreasonable by attorney Jang Seo Yeon. “This undermines legal fairness,” she said. She also explained how young artists sign long-term contracts without subsequent knowledge about the field. “K-pop idols often sign seven-year contracts as minors, locking them into a system where they must live as idols, not simply provide services,” she mentioned. She also criticised the structure, saying it "doesn't adequately specify the management agency’s obligations while clearly defining the idols’ duties, creating an uneven dynamic."
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