Min Heejin vs Source Music: Third Damages Hearing Postponed to July 18
Multiple Lawsuits Between HYBE Sub-labels and Former ADOR CEO Min Heejin Continue to Unfold
The legal battle between former ADOR CEO Min Heejin and Source Music is ongoing.
The Seoul Western District Court’s Civil Division 12 has postponed the third hearing in the damages suit filed by HYBE Labels against Min Hee-jin to July 18. The hearing was initially scheduled for June 27. HYBE is seeking approximately 2.5 billion KRW (about $1.8 million USD) in damages.
Source Music had previously filed a separate suit against Min Heejin in July 2023, demanding around 500 million KRW (about $360,000 USD). The label argues that Min Heejin broke an agreement by debuting NewJeans instead of launching LE SSERAFIM as HYBE’s first girl group, which they claim caused them financial and reputational harm.
At the second hearing in May, Source Music submitted a PowerPoint containing KakaoTalk messages allegedly sent by Min. However, her legal team argued that the evidence was “illegally collected” and should not be accepted in court. Min Heejin vs Source Music
Separate Battle with Belift Lab Over ILLIT Allegations
Min Hee-jin is also in a separate legal dispute with another HYBE sub-label, Belift Lab. The conflict began when Min claimed that Belift Lab’s group ILLIT had “copied NewJeans in all areas.” In response, Belift Lab filed its own damages suit against Min.
At the second hearing in April, the court ordered both sides to reduce their written materials and visual aids to within 30 pages. The plaintiff later requested a new hearing date, resulting in the current rescheduling to July 18.
Since being dismissed from her role at ADOR, Min Heejin has remained embroiled in multiple legal battles with HYBE. Most recently, NewJeans did not submit an appeal in their injunction case regarding management and advertising contracts. This solidified the court’s decision prohibiting the group from pursuing independent activities without ADOR’s involvement.
Previous article about Min Heejin > Lawsuit against Min Heejin “Mediation fails for 100M damages lawsuit”
Min Heejin Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/min.hee.jin
