Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin has won a defamation lawsuit against malicious commenters.

According to reports on March 19th KST, Judge Ahn Hyun Jin of the Seoul Central District Court ruled partially in favor of Min Hee Jin, ordering eight individuals to pay ₩50,000 to ₩100,000(approximately $34 to $68) each in damages. The ruling has been finalized as neither side filed an appeal.

Min Hee Jin is also expected to win additional lawsuits against other online trolls.

In April 2023, HYBE accused Min Hee Jin of attempting to separate ADOR from HYBE and seize management control. Following her second press conference, numerous defamatory comments appeared online, leading Min Hee Jin to file lawsuits against the commenters, seeking ₩3 million per individual for psychological damages.

While the court acknowledged the defamatory nature of the comments, it significantly reduced the compensation amount, citing varying degrees of severity:

• ₩100,000: For comments such as “Just three letters: crazy b*h”

• ₩50,000: For comments like “I want to punch her”, “Fing piece of s*”, and “Psycho bh”

• No Compensation: For comments like “Cunning b*h”, as the court deemed them harsh opinions rather than outright defamation

In August 2023, Min Hee Jin was removed from her position as CEO of ADOR. Then, on November 29th, the NJZ members informed ADOR of their decision to terminate their exclusive contracts.

In response, ADOR filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of the contract and sought a court injunction to prevent NewJeans from independently signing endorsement deals or engaging in promotional activities without ADOR’s approval.

Despite the legal battle, NewJeans has continued its activities independently. The group recently rebranded as NJZ and is set to headline ‘ComplexCon’ in Hong Kong on March 23rd, where they will debut new music.

The first hearing for the contract dispute is scheduled for April 3rd.

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