NewJeans and ADOR’s Second Mediation Fails; Case to Be Resolved by Court Ruling on October 30

The contract dispute between the group NewJeans and its agency ADOR continues. On the 11th, the Civil Conciliation Division 41 of the Seoul Central District Court held the second mediation session for the lawsuit filed by ADOR seeking to confirm the validity of its exclusive contract with five NewJeans members, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement. The court has decided to issue a ruling on October 30. During the first mediation session held on the 14th of last month, NewJeans and ADOR also could not narrow their differences. Danielle and Minzy, members of NewJeans, appeared in court personally for the first mediation, but no members showed up for the second session. The root of the dispute lies in NewJeans’ declaration to pursue independent activities. NewJeans claimed that their contract with ADOR was terminated last November due to breach of contract by the agency and began operating independently without them. In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit in court in January asserting that the contract with NewJeans remains valid and also requested a temporary restraining order to restrict the members’ independent activities. The Civil Conciliation Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court granted all of ADOR’s requests in March. Subsequently, NewJeans members filed appeals and motions for higher court review, but all were denied. The court also accepted ADOR’s application for indirect enforcement on May 30, ordering the members to pay 1 billion won each if they carried out independent activities without ADOR. In the main litigation, the two sides remain at odds. NewJeans insists that “the trust relationship has been destroyed, making it impossible to continue the exclusive contract,” while ADOR argues that “the conditions for terminating the contract do not exist.” The court referred the case to mediation in July, and although two mediation sessions were held, both ended without success.