Prosecutors Rule Out Charges in Min Hee-jin's Lawsuit Against HYBE

Prosecutors have decided not to file charges in a case involving Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR, who had accused six executives from HYBE, including former CEO Park Ji-won, of obstruction of business and defamation.

According to legal sources on June 11, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 1, led by Chief Prosecutor Hwang Soo-yeon, dismissed all charges in the case filed by Min against the HYBE executives and four executives from Belift Lab on May 27.

Min filed the lawsuit after HYBE released a press statement in April 2024, alleging that she engaged in what they termed 'shamanistic management' by consulting with shamans on ADOR's business matters and that ADOR's management conspired to terminate the exclusive contract with NewJeans.

Min's legal team argued that the press release contained false information, which they claimed disrupted ADOR's operations and damaged her reputation.

However, prosecutors concluded that there was insufficient evidence to consider the press release as false, noting that Min had indeed discussed management matters with shamans.

The prosecutors also found no grounds for the allegations related to Belift Lab. Min had claimed that Belift Lab's assertion, made through a YouTube video, that their group ILY:1 did not plagiarize NewJeans' choreography and costumes constituted defamation based on false facts, but prosecutors did not accept this claim.

Additionally, prosecutors dismissed charges related to information and communication network violations, which Min alleged against HYBE for unlawfully accessing ADOR's emails and KakaoTalk messages. They determined that HYBE had accessed the information under legitimate audit authority.