Parents of NJZ express concerns over recent statements from industry organizations regarding ongoing legal matters.
Full Statement of parents of NJZ
Hello,
This morning, we came across a statement released to the media by five organizations: the Korea Entertainment Management Association, the Korea Entertainment Producers Association, the Korea Music Label Industry Association, the Korea Music Industry Association, and the Korea Music Content Association.
It is truly regrettable that statements are being made that could harm the fairness of the trial by treating unconfirmed matters as established facts, especially when neither the injunction nor the main trial has even begun. As always, we would like to highlight that there are far fewer channels available to represent the artists’ perspectives compared to companies that can freely utilize associations and major media outlets. Please understand in advance that this may result in a lengthy message.
1.
The five organizations mentioned in the statement claim that NJZ members are attempting to resolve matters or disputes that should be handled privately through mutual agreements or legal procedures by resorting to public opinion campaigns and unilateral declarations. However, we believe the public remembers who began a media campaign by widely disseminating baseless suspicions to oust the former CEO of ADOR, who had been trying to address HYBE’s serious internal issues.
At that time, HYBE either deliberately orchestrated or allowed an overflow of absurd media articles about “tampering” and “gaslighting” involving NewJeans. It is also well-remembered that this media frenzy began less than a week before NewJeans’ comeback. No agency would ever do such a thing a week before their artist’s comeback. We would like to ask where the associations were and what they were doing at that time.
2.
The five organizations also claim that the K-pop industry is suffering significant damage because private disputes between parties are being unilaterally publicized and turned into controversies by one side. However, it is the NJZ members, along with fans and the public who love and support music, who have suffered devastating harm due to such one-sided and unbalanced media coverage. This harm continues even now. Furthermore, the stock price decline and other damages caused by HYBE are HYBE’s own problems, not those of the K-pop industry as a whole. This demonstrates that these associations are using their names to represent the interests of a specific company.
3.
The five organizations argue that merely raising suspicions can dominate portal sites, internet communities, and social media for extended periods, potentially being accepted as fact without proper verification or rebuttal. This is the only accurate point in their statement, and it is indeed true. Numerous false claims surrounding NJZ members have dominated portal sites, internet communities, and social media, while media articles solely reflecting HYBE’s claims and interests, as well as reckless channels presenting insufficiently substantiated opinions as expert views, continue to proliferate.
Watching individual entertainers unable to prevent this or actively protect themselves is deeply heartbreaking. We believe this reflects the helplessness felt by many in the entertainment industry—artists, trainees, and their families—regarding associations and industry structures.
4.
The five organizations criticize NJZ members for engaging in independent activities without legally terminating their exclusive contracts with ADOR, claiming that if contracts are nullified through unilateral declarations without legal protection, it will undermine the foundation of the K-pop industry. However, this is a completely misleading argument intended to deceive the public. From the perspective of families who had to witness these events from when all members were minors during their trainee years, there was no organization or space where trainees or artists could voice their grievances or seek protection against unfaithful contract fulfillment and internal harassment.
They were left with no choice but to rely solely on the company’s morality—a blind spot in basic rights protections. From the perspective of members who courageously voiced their concerns through proper legal channels despite facing difficulties, it is contradictory for these associations to take sides with one party while claiming concerns about industry stability—essentially only arguing for company losses.
As widely known, HYBE has openly discriminated against NJZ members, attacked them, and sought to ruin them. ADOR—a label under HYBE—neither had the ability nor intention to stop this and even attempted to undermine NewJeans’ foundation for entertainment activities through incidents like targeting Dolphin Kidnappers (a fan group). Unable to endure further mistreatment, NJZ members were compelled to terminate their exclusive contracts. Under Korean law, termination takes immediate effect upon declaration; therefore, their contracts with ADOR are already nullified.
As such, NJZ members are free from contract restrictions and can engage in activities as they wish after termination. This is an obvious legal principle under Korean law. The fact that ADOR and HYBE demand legislative changes ahead of court proceedings only highlights how unreasonable and unconvincing their claims are.
Today’s statement from these associations raises concerns about whether they are seeking methods not to protect individual rights but rather to excessively bind them while exercising invisible legalized violence. Their argument essentially suggests that exclusive contracts must operate like slave contracts for K-pop’s survival—a notion we find deeply troubling.
This matter remains a dispute between a specific agency mistreating its artists and those specific artists—not an issue affecting K-pop as an entire industry. On the contrary, we believe this courageous decision by NJZ members could pave the way for a healthier K-pop industry filled with more creative artists.
5.
While organizing our stance on this matter, we received information from a journalist regarding plans by these five organizations not only to distribute today’s statement but also to hold a press conference at JW Marriott Hotel on February 27 (Thursday), inviting numerous journalists with lunch provided as an option. Considering JW Marriott’s lunch costs exceed 100,000 KRW per person—a potential violation of Korea’s Kim Young-ran Act—it raises doubts about whether many journalists could attend such an event without ethical concerns.
Moreover, these associations reportedly redistributed identical statements at 1 PM today after already distributing them earlier in the morning. Reissuing identical content on the same day begs questions about their intentions—isn’t this precisely what constitutes a public opinion campaign?
We respectfully request these five organizations cease attempts at shaping public opinion solely representing one company’s interests under their names as associations.
6.
NJZ members are preparing for their performance at ComplexCon in Hong Kong—a moment they eagerly anticipate as they show fans worldwide their new beginnings free from HYBE and ADOR’s oppressive control.
Thank you for reading this lengthy message; we apologize for any inconvenience caused once again.
This translation tried to maintain accuracy while preserving all original nuances for clarity when shared publicly.
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