The 12th Civil Affairs Department of the Seoul Western District Court has suspended damage suits filed by HYBE subsidiaries BELIFT LAB and Source Music against former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, setting estimated dates for both cases instead of confirmed hearing schedules, effectively suspending the trials.
An estimated date, according to Korean judicial procedure, means that the court has not yet confirmed when the next hearing will take place and will appoint one at a later date. Legal observers say courts typically take this step when they want to monitor the outcomes of related lawsuits before resuming proceedings.
The two lawsuits have a combined value of 2.5 billion won ($1.7 million). BELIFT LAB, the agency behind girl group ILLIT, filed a 2 billion won ($1.3 million) lawsuit in June 2024, alleging that Min’s public claims that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans caused serious damage to the group’s reputation and disrupted its creative activities, according to Allkpop.
Min’s legal team argued that his remarks reflected a professional opinion on the similarities between the two groups, not a formal legal accusation of plagiarism. The case completed five rounds of pleadings before the suspension was upheld ahead of the sixth hearing scheduled for March 27.
Source Music, the label that manages LE SSERAFIM, filed a 500 million won ($325,000) lawsuit in July 2024.
The lawsuit centers on remarks Min made during an April 2024 press conference in which he said he hand-picked the members of NewJeans and accused HYBE of failing to keep a promise regarding a girl group’s debut. Source Music argued that the overall context of his remarks unfairly damaged the reputation of the label and its artists.
That case completed four rounds of hearings and was set for sentencing in January before arguments unexpectedly resumed. The estimated date was confirmed ahead of the March 13 hearing Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
The suspension comes at a time when Min is involved in several other high-profile legal battles. It is currently appealing a 25.6 billion won ($16.6 million) put option judgment against HYBE, which a Seoul court ruled in its favor in February 2026.
She also recently initiated proceedings in a 43 billion won ($28 million) damages lawsuit filed by ADOR against her, former NewJeans member Danielle, and one of Danielle’s family members.
Issues surrounding the BELIFT LAB and Source Music disputes were cited multiple times in both the put option and ADOR cases, which likely contributed to the court’s decision to stay the proceedings, according to the ruling Korea Times.
