On November 27, the third court hearing for the civil case between Min Hee-jin and HYBE was held at the Civil Settlements Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Nam In-soo. The case concerns the termination of the shareholders’ agreement and the request for a put option by Min against HYBE.
During the session, Min testified directly, criticizing HYBE’s uneven promotional efforts. “HYBE properly promoted THE SERAPHINSbut they didn’t do the same for New Jeans“he said.
Addressing skepticism about this claim, he added, “Chairman Bang Si-hyuk might say, ‘Would I sabotage my own company?’ But anyone who has worked in a corporate environment knows that logic doesn’t always prevail. Even before this incident, Bang would court people when necessary, but easily discard them once they were no longer useful.
Min also stated that she felt used as a “HYBE IPO tool.” He explained, “Back then, HYBE only had BTS, which wasn’t enough for an IPO. They needed a girl group or other resources. I didn’t know the company was planning to go public. Later, through HYBE’s IPO and SM’s takeover battle, I realized I was essential to those efforts.”
He said there was internal resistance against it New Jeanssaying: “They probably thought it was better to promote other labels than let my group succeed. Bang told the staff not to promote NewJeans and to promote SSERAFIM in a way that confused the public into thinking it was my team. Former CEO Park Ji-won told me this clearly. At the time, I said, ‘This is complete nonsense.'”
Min also revealed that his December 2022 appearance on tvN’s Take the block quiz was driven by necessity: “They had contacted me several times, but I kept refusing. Then I told the writer that I would do it because I felt I had to. The situation was so desperate that I had to go on national TV just to promote NewJeans.”
Sources: Daum
