The legal turmoil involving members of NewJeans and their agency ADOR has taken an unexpected turn as new reports reveal that a disagreement between the parents of one underage member, believed to be either Haerin or Hyein, temporarily stalled progress in the group’s ongoing contract termination efforts.
According to a Chosun Biz report released this week, a major hurdle emerged in the lawsuit filed by ADOR against NewJeans, not from the agency itself but from within the family of one of the underage idols. The report claims that the member’s parents are divided in their stance on whether to proceed with terminating her contract; one parent reportedly supports the decision, while the other opposes it.
This internal conflict adds a new layer of complexity to the high-profile case. In South Korea, minors typically require joint parental consent for significant legal actions, especially those involving contracts and civil disputes. When parents are not in agreement, decisions involving their children must often be settled in family court – an exact scenario that appears to have played out in this instance.
Law Firm Sejong, which is representing the NewJeans members in their legal pursuit, confirmed back in March that there was a complication stemming from a disagreement within one member’s family. While the law firm did not disclose which member was involved, both Haerin and Hyein are currently minors under South Korean law. “There was a meeting held at the family court, and we expect a resolution by next week. Once the decision is finalized, there should be no further issues,” stated a representative from Law Firm Sejong at the time.
Despite these early expectations, the matter proved more complicated than anticipated. On April 3, the Seoul Central District Court noted that the parents had failed to reach a unified decision regarding the contract termination, meaning that joint parental authority could not be applied to the case. This, for a time, raised questions about whether the legal action involving the underage member could proceed at all.
However, Chosun Biz inferred from the April 3 trial proceedings that the court may have ultimately sided with the parent supporting contract termination. Although no official ruling on the matter has been made public, the court reportedly allowed the lawsuit to proceed under the legal authority of the supportive parent, effectively overruling the opposition from the other parent.
The contract termination case is part of a larger storm involving HYBE, its subsidiary, ADOR, and former CEO Min Hee Jin. Tensions between the two entities escalated after HYBE attempted to audit ADOR’s management practices. In response, Min Hee Jin accused the parent company of mismanagement and undermining NewJeans’ artistic integrity and brand identity. This dispute eventually snowballed into a full-blown legal and corporate battle, with NewJeans members seeking to end their contracts with ADOR altogether.