The legal rift between NewJeans and their agency ADOR just got deeper—no settlement is on the horizon.

On June 5, the Seoul Central District Court held the second hearing for the civil suit filed by ADOR, which seeks to confirm the validity of NewJeans' exclusive contract. The presiding judge once again urged both parties to consider settling—but NewJeans' legal team refused, stating:

"The trust has already been broken beyond repair."

⚖️ Courtroom Drama Continues

Neither the members of NewJeans nor ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin were present. Instead, five lawyers from Sejong (representing NewJeans) and six from Kim & Chang (representing ADOR) took the floor.

• ADOR's side argued: "NewJeans keeps changing their reasons for terminating the contract. It seems they're trying to justify the termination after the fact."
• NewJeans' lawyers countered: "HYBE executives took over ADOR's management, violating their duty to protect NewJeans. The contract termination is lawful."

They also criticized ADOR's ability to provide future management:

"It's not enough to just come up with a replacement producer list. ADOR must explain clearly what actual discussions took place."

💻 Dispute Over Evidence Legality

There's controversy over the evidence submitted by ADOR, allegedly downloaded from company servers.

• NewJeans' legal team claims this data was illegally acquired via unauthorized audits, which could violate Korea's Information and Communications Network Act.
• ADOR's lawyers argued otherwise: "The person who shared the files gave consent. These files belong to the company. It's not illegal."

❌ NewJeans Says No to Settlement

The judge asked one last time if there was room for a compromise. NewJeans' lawyers firmly responded:

"It's like crossing a river you can't come back from."

ADOR, however, appeared slightly more open to negotiation:

"Once the court makes a ruling—either on the main case or the injunction—it may become easier to reach a settlement."

⚠️ Court Previously Sided with ADOR

Previously, the court granted ADOR's injunction request. Under that ruling, if NewJeans continues any unauthorized entertainment activities without ADOR's approval, they must pay ₩1 billion KRW (approx. $730,000) per incident.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 24 at 4 PM (KST).

[Photo Credit: Dispatch DB]