SEOUL – The parents of all five members of K-pop girl group NewJeans have released a joint statement denying any disagreement among them, saying the reports of discord were false.
The statement came as the dispute between NewJeans and Hybe subsidiary Ador continues to escalate, with a recent report claiming that the father of member Hyein has had his parental rights revoked in relation to the case.
“The reports of discord among the members’ parents are completely false,” the joint statement on April 4 said. “All five members firmly believe that returning to Hybe is not an option. This decision was made after thorough discussions within each family.”
The parents added: “Matters of parental authority are private family affairs. We hope there will be no further malicious attempts to link these personal issues to the legal dispute with Ador.”
NewJeans and Ador have been embroiled in a legal dispute over their exclusive contract since November 2024.
On April 3, the Seoul Central District Court held the initial hearing for Ador’s lawsuit seeking confirmation of the validity of its contract with group.
During the hearing, it was revealed for the first time that there had been a disagreement between the parents of one of the members. Parental authority is jointly exercised by both parents if the person directly involved in the lawsuit is a minor, and in this case, one parent reportedly did not agree with the lawsuit.
Among the NewJeans members, only Hyein, 16, and Haerin, 18, are minors, while the other members – Danielle, Hanni and Minji – are 20.
South Korean media outlet New Daily reported on April 8 that Hyein’s father had opposed the lawsuit against Ador.
Due to differing opinions between Hyein’s parents regarding the legal dispute, the singer’s mother reportedly filed a petition with the Seoul Family Court requesting that the father’s parental rights be restricted for the duration of the case.
The court ruled in favour of the mother, allowing her to exercise sole parental authority concerning the lawsuit. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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