NewJeans-ADOR Exclusive Contract Dispute to Be Resolved by Court on the 30th

The court will issue its final ruling on the exclusive contract dispute between girl group NewJeans and their agency ADOR on the 30th. The Civil Trial Division 41 of Seoul Central District Court (presided over by Judge Jeong Hwe-il) will hold the judgment hearing for the lawsuit filed by ADOR seeking to confirm the validity of the exclusive contracts with five NewJeans members at 9:50 a.m. on that day. The dispute originated in November last year. At that time, the NewJeans members notified ADOR of their intention to terminate the exclusive contracts due to the agency’s failure to fulfill its obligations. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit in court in December of the same year to confirm the validity of the contracts, turning the matter into a full-blown legal conflict. The positions of both sides are completely opposite. NewJeans maintains that the fundamental trust relationship necessary to carry out the current exclusive contract with ADOR has been destroyed. On the other hand, ADOR argues that it can continue to support NewJeans’ musical activities even without former CEO Minhee, and therefore the exclusive contracts remain valid. The court held two mediation sessions to attempt to resolve the dispute between the two parties, but no agreement was reached. During this process, ADOR submitted an interim injunction request demanding that the NewJeans members be prohibited from performing or engaging in any activities independently without ADOR’s approval until the judgment in the contract validity lawsuit is issued, and the court granted this request. Both NewJeans’ appeals against this decision were rejected.