Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Ador who is in conflict with Hive, announced that he would resign from Ador and leave Hybe. It has been five years since he joined Hive’s predecessor, Big Hit Music, as the chief brand officer (CBO) in 2019.
Former CEO Min issued an official statement on the afternoon of the 20th, saying, “I am resigning from the company’s executive director today. I will also terminate the shareholder contract I signed with Hive and hold Hive legally responsible for the violation of the shareholder contract.” He explained the background, “Hybe has not admitted his wrongdoing so far and there is no sign of change, so I decided to make further efforts as I judged that it is a waste of time.”
“I have been working hard to protect New Jeans within Hybe. That’s why I sent two emails of whistle blowing in April,” Min said. “However, Hive put a strange frame of ‘stealing management control’ on me, as a minority shareholder and CEO, and made a witch hunt and an ignorant and senseless attack.” He has claimed that he was audited for the disgraceful whistle-blowing, including allegations of Irish plagiarism and pushing back the album.
Former CEO Min said, “I hope you will pay a lot of attention to the new K-pop journey that I will take place in the future.” She expressed his intention to continue a new K-pop project afterwards.
As a result, attention is focusing on the future of Min and New Jeans. After finishing preparing to leave early this month by announcing the event of putting options, Min will be able to move away from Hybe and seek her own path. “It seems that Min is actually in the FA market. There is a growing possibility that New Jeans will follow suit soon,” a source in the music industry said.
The members of New Jeans have repeatedly expressed their intention to be with former CEO Min. On the 13th, he sent a proof of content to Adore, saying, “If we do not correct all serious violations of the exclusive contract, we will terminate the exclusive contract.” In her acceptance speech at the K-pop awards ceremony on the 16th, he said, “I don’t know how long it will be New Jeans, but…”, “Even if it’s not New Jeans, New Jeans will never die,” she said, hinting at the possibility of his departure from Hive. Some predict that a legal battle will take place soon, including an application for an injunction to suspend the validity of his exclusive contract.
Meanwhile, Adore said on the same day, “We regret the unilateral resignation notice of Director Min Hee-jin. We will do our best to support New Jeans to grow and develop further.”
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
