Kim Taehyung, the BTS member known as V, broke his silence on February 20 after learning that private KakaoTalk conversation between him and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin had been entered as evidence in her legal fight with HYBE over her right to sell HYBE shares.
The exchange, revealed as part of the legal proceedings, appeared to suggest that V agreed with Min Hee Jin’s allegations that ILLIT had committed plagiarism.
In an Instagram Story, V swiftly denied the interpretation, stating that his remarks were intended as words of empathy during a private conversation with an acquaintance. They were never meant for public consumption or courtroom use, he wrote, adding that he had not taken sides in the dispute. He also criticized Min Hee Jin for submitting their private exchange as evidence in court without his consent, calling the move inappropriate.
“This was part of a private, everyday conversation I shared out of empathy because she was an acquaintance of mine. I had absolutely no intention of taking either side. However, I feel very taken aback that this conversation was submitted as evidence without my consent.”
According to court filings, Min’s legal team submitted screenshots from a KakaoTalk conversation with V to support her claim that HYBE’s newer girl group ILLIT borrowed creative elements from NewJeans, the act she built at ADOR. In the exchange, V reportedly said he had noticed conceptual similarities between the two groups. The Seoul Central District Court, however, treated the messages not as V’s personal endorsement of Min’s position but as one data point in a larger body of industry commentary.
Fan response has focused largely on the privacy issue. Many voiced support for V while criticizing the use of personal conversations in a corporate lawsuit. The timing compounds the sensitivity: BTS is preparing for activities around its March 20 album, “Arirang,” a release that carries significant commercial stakes for HYBE, and the group’s members face heightened public scrutiny in the lead-up.
Court sides with Min Hee-jin, rebukes HYBE’s conduct
The disclosure followed a February 12 ruling by the Seoul Central District Court that largely sided with Min in her shareholder dispute with HYBE. The court upheld Min’s exercise of a put option under her contract and ordered HYBE to pay approximately KRW 22.4 billion (~$15.5 million) to Min, plus KRW 1.7 billion and KRW 1.4 billion to two other former ADOR executives, for a combined payout of roughly KRW 25.5 billion (~$17.7 million). HYBE filed an appeal on February 20.
The court directed pointed criticism at HYBE. It found that the company, not Min, first damaged the relationship by turning an internal disagreement into a public spectacle. The judges pointed to an exclusive news report released on HYBE’s behalf on April 22, 2024 — the same day the company launched an audit of ADOR, demanded Min’s resignation as CEO, and began dismissal proceedings — as the act that brought the conflict into the open. The court determined that this sequence caused HYBE’s stock price to fall 7.8% that day, a decline the company itself cited in a criminal complaint as reflecting a KRW 800 billion (~$553 million) drop in market capitalization.
Separately, the court dismissed claims that Min had sought to seize control of ADOR or misappropriate NewJeans as unsubstantiated and speculative.
The ruling also credited Min with building ADOR’s value. Assuming the alliance among NewJeans, Min, and HYBE had continued, the court estimated NewJeans’ fair market value could have reached roughly KRW 2 trillion (~$1.38 billion), comparable to BLACKPINK at that group’s commercial peak. The court further confirmed that HYBE founder Bang Si-hyuk produced ILLIT’s debut album, a finding that added fuel to the creative-overlap debate. Min has since launched an independent label, OOAK Records, where she is developing a new boy group.
