All Members of NewJeans Return to ADOR; One-Year Legal Battle “Dramatically Ends” – Biggest Story in K-Pop in 2025

The group NewJeans has concluded its more than one-year dispute over their exclusive contract with agency ADOR and announced that all members are returning to the label. Music industry experts have labeled this event as the biggest story in K-pop for 2025. On November 28, 2024, NewJeans members held an emergency press conference and expressed their intention to terminate their exclusive contract with ADOR. At that time, as tensions between former ADOR CEO Minhee Jin and HYBE intensified, the members notified ADOR that their contract would be dissolved starting at midnight on November 29, 2024, and they would pursue independent activities. Afterwards, the members changed the group name to “NJZ” and prepared for a new start, but their activities were halted due to legal actions taken by ADOR. Last December, ADOR filed a lawsuit in court seeking confirmation that the exclusive contract remained valid. Additionally, ADOR submitted an interim injunction request asking the court to recognize its status as the management company and restrict the members’ independent activities until the first-instance judgment in the exclusive contract case was rendered. The court granted all of ADOR’s requests. On October 30, the court ruled in the first-instance judgment in favor of ADOR, determining that the exclusive contract was valid, not the NewJeans members. Having suffered a complete defeat in the lawsuit, NewJeans initially expressed intent to appeal but changed their stance just one day before the appeal deadline. On November 12, Haerin and Hyein were the first to announce their return to ADOR. ADOR explained that the two members decided to “respect the court’s judgment and abide by the exclusive contract after careful consideration with their families and thorough discussions with ADOR.” That same night, Minzy, Hanni, and Danielle also shared their decisions, stating they had “decided to return to ADOR after careful deliberation.” However, the three members issued their statements through a law firm rather than directly to ADOR, explaining that one member was in Antarctica and thus ADOR could not respond immediately. This appeared to be a notification without full agreement, raising some doubts, but ultimately all five NewJeans members confirmed their return to ADOR. In a survey conducted by News1 among 34 music industry experts asking for the “biggest event in K-pop in 2025,” NewJeans’ return to ADOR received 18 votes and topped the list. This result, following their exclusive contract dispute which also received 26 votes and ranked first in a similar survey at the end of 2024, shows that this issue has remained the hottest topic in K-pop both last year and this year. Experts commented, “It was the moment when the long, ongoing one-year legal conflict over the exclusive contract came to an end,” adding, “This situation allowed us to examine from multiple angles public and industry perspectives on the contractual relationship between agencies and artists.” Another insider stated, “The return after a prolonged hiatus and controversy itself is a symbolic event that has had a significant impact on the industry, public opinion, and market trends.” Since their debut in July 2022, NewJeans has quickly risen to become one of K-pop’s leading groups by releasing hit songs such as “Attention,” “Hype Boy,” “Ditto,” and “Super Shy.” However, the first-ever one-year-plus legal battle with their agency highlighted once again the importance of trust between artists and management companies within the K-pop industry.