Min Hee-jin vs. HYBE: Shareholder Agreement Dispute Heads to Appeals Court in December

The legal fight between Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR and current head of OK RECORDS, and HYBE is set to continue before an appeals court this December. At issue is whether the shareholder agreement between the two sides was validly terminated.

According to legal sources on Oct. 16, the Seoul High Court has scheduled the first hearing in the appeal for December 17 at 2:40 p.m. KST. HYBE filed the lawsuit seeking confirmation that its termination of the shareholder agreement was valid.

On Feb. 12, the Seoul Central District Court's 31st Civil Division, led by presiding judge Nam In-soo, ruled against HYBE and dismissed the company's claim. HYBE appealed the decision.

The two sides have clashed over whether the shareholder agreement was validly terminated and whether Min's exercise of her put option was valid. The put option gave Min the contractual right to require HYBE to purchase her shares. HYBE argued that it terminated the agreement because Min had attempted to separate NewJeans out of the company, among other reasons. Min countered that she had not breached the contract and had exercised her put option while the agreement was still in effect.

The lower court acknowledged that Min had explored ways to make ADOR independent from HYBE but found that her actions did not constitute a breach serious enough to justify terminating the shareholder agreement.

Min's side confirmed the appeal hearing date and said in a statement, "In the appeal as well, we will faithfully take part in the proceedings based on the objective facts and legal reasoning established by the lower court."

The two sides are also engaged in a separate legal battle over the payment due under the put option. In that case, filed by Min against HYBE, the lower court ruled that HYBE must pay Min approximately 25.5 billion won ($18 million).

HYBE appealed that ruling as well. The shareholder agreement case and the put option payment case are currently assigned to different divisions of the Seoul High Court. A first hearing date for the appeal in the payment case has not yet been set.