News of a potential reunion between NewJeans and ADOR is drawing significant attention. On the 12th, ADOR announced that members Haerin and Hyein had expressed their intention to continue activities with the agency. ADOR explained that after careful consideration with their families and thorough discussions with the company, the two members decided to respect the court’s ruling and comply with their exclusive contracts.
Shortly afterward, members Minji, Hanni, and Danielle issued a separate statement through their legal representative, saying they had decided to return to ADOR after careful deliberation. They added that communication had been delayed because one member was currently in Antarctica and stated that they announced their position independently due to receiving no response from ADOR.
The announcement was made without prior consultation with the agency. In response, ADOR stated that they are currently verifying the sincerity of the three members’ intention to return.
With this development, all NewJeans members have now announced their intention to return to ADOR, roughly one year after declaring the termination of their exclusive contracts in November of last year. On November 28, NewJeans held an emergency press conference explaining that they had sent a content-certified letter to ADOR on November 13 demanding that major breaches of the exclusive contract be corrected within fourteen days. They stated that if those demands were not met, they would consider the contract terminated.
At the time, the group asserted that the deadline for their demands would expire at midnight on the 28th and argued that neither HYBE nor the current ADOR had met their requirements. They maintained that they could not accept the continuation of their exclusive contract under what they viewed as changes made according to HYBE’s preferences. NewJeans subsequently declared that their exclusive contract with ADOR would be terminated at midnight on the 29th.
In a statement on November 29, they added that all five members had personally signed the termination notice and claimed that the contract became invalid the moment the notice reached ADOR, signaling their intention to pursue independent activities.
ADOR responded to the emergency press conference by asserting that it had not violated the exclusive contract and that a unilateral claim of broken trust could not serve as a legitimate basis for termination. The agency emphasized that the contract remained valid.
On December 3, ADOR filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court seeking legal confirmation of the contract’s validity. In January, the company also filed for an injunction requesting the preservation of its status as the group’s management agency and the prohibition of the members entering independent advertising contracts.
Amid this dispute, NewJeans announced in February that they would perform at ComplexCon in Hong Kong on March 23 under the activity name NJZ, prompting ADOR to request that they use the official team name NewJeans and further escalating tensions.
The court ultimately sided with ADOR, and on March 21 accepted the agency’s injunction request against all five members for preservation of agency status and prohibition of advertising contract execution. NewJeans members responded that while they respected the court’s decision, they believed it failed to account for what they described as a complete breakdown of trust between the group and ADOR, stating that they planned to challenge remaining issues through an objection procedure.
They also voiced dissatisfaction in an interview with TIME magazine, where they criticized aspects of the K-pop industry structure and remarked that this might reflect the current reality in Korea and that it felt as if Korea wanted to turn them into revolutionaries.
Contrary to NewJeans’ wishes, the court once again ruled in favor of ADOR. On May 30, the Seoul Central District Court’s 52nd Civil Division determined that NewJeans members must not engage in entertainment activities independently or through third parties without ADOR’s prior approval until the first trial judgment on the validity of the exclusive contract is issued.
The ruling effectively blocks all independent activities while the contract dispute remains unresolved and includes a penalty clause requiring each member to pay 1 billion KRW (750,000 USD) per violation.
NewJeans appealed, but the appeal was dismissed. ADOR expressed gratitude for the decision, stating that the ruling reaffirmed its legally recognized position as NewJeans’ agency and hoped it would encourage the members to return to their place as NewJeans and resume activities.
On the 30th of last month, the Seoul Central District Court again ruled in ADOR’s favor in the lawsuit filed against the five members to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract, stating that the contract remains valid and ordering the defendants to bear litigation costs.
ADOR responded by emphasizing that for nearly a year the court had repeatedly affirmed its status as the group’s management company and maintained that the artists should conduct their activities under ADOR. The agency added that it hopes the latest judgment, made after extensive verification of claims and facts, will serve as an opportunity for the members to reconsider the situation calmly.
Although NewJeans members initially expressed their intention to appeal, they reversed course and decided to return to ADOR just one day before the appeal deadline at midnight on the 13th. However, the process has exposed differences among the members as well as communication gaps with ADOR, drawing attention to how these internal conflicts will be addressed moving forward.
Meanwhile, Min Heejin, the former CEO of ADOR and the producer behind NewJeans, has reportedly established a new entertainment agency named OK. ADOR dismissed Min from the CEO position last August and reassigned her as an internal director with producer authority, but she chose to resign in November of last year.
Following her departure, NewJeans announced the termination of their exclusive contract at a press conference and insisted they would not return to ADOR without Min’s reinstatement. Despite maintaining that stance for nearly a year, the group has ultimately decided to return to ADOR.
