As the exclusive contract dispute between the group New Jeans and its agency Adore is about to be decided, Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Adore and known as ‘New Jeans’s mother,’ has established a new entertainment agency.
According to a SPOTV News report on the 24th, former CEO of Adore, Min Hee-jin, established a new entertainment agency, ooak Co., Ltd., and completed the corporate registration on the 16th.
The business objectives were listed as celebrity management, music production, album production, music and album distribution, performance and event planning and production, and brand management. Min Hee-jin was listed as an inside director.
Okay, the location is near Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and the building is currently under construction.
This marks the first time that former CEO Min Hee-jin’s future has been made public since leaving Adore. Speculation is growing that the former CEO, who has been a reclusive figure, is preparing for the aftermath of New Jeans’ lawsuit over her exclusive contract by establishing an entertainment agency.
The court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on the first trial on the lawsuit filed by Adore against the five New Jeans members, seeking to confirm the validity of their exclusive contracts, on the 30th. If the court rules in favor of the five New Jeans members in the first trial, the members could move to former CEO Min’s new company, OK.
However, since all New Jeans members have already lost two injunction lawsuits, it is difficult to be optimistic about the outcome of the first trial.
The members of New Jeans attempted to pursue independent activities under the new team name NJZ, but a court ruling blocked their activities. The court ruled that each member of New Jeans must pay 1 billion won per instance of independent activity.
New Jeans and Adore went through two rounds of mediation, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. The members filed a petition with the court, stating, “Forcing us to return to Adore is like asking a victim of school violence to return to where their perpetrator is.”
