The person who filed the complaint regarding Hanni’s workplace bullying case recently responded to an article alleging that former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin instigated member Hanni’s complaint to the Ministry of Employment and Work. According to this person, he has no connection to former CEO Min, New Jeans or HYBE.
Notably, this person told Sports Kyunghyang media on January 16: “I wonder if the repeated mention of ‘exposé’ in the article was intended to strongly highlight the connection with former CEO Min,” AND “submitting a complaint to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and disclosing the full response was a legitimate action to protect people’s right to be informed.”
They continued, “Given that the response (of the Ministry of Labour) was very unfavorable towards former CEO Min and Hamni, the media report in question has lost its logical validity.”
Meanwhile, on the same day, news outlet Chosun Biz reported a conversation on Telegram between A, a family member of a NewJeans member, and Min Hee-jin.
According to the report, on September 14 last year, A sent Min a message saying, “The Ministry of Labor has started, please call me“, to which Min replied, “I am currently receiving an IV. I’ll call you in the afternoon.“
The conversation reportedly came shortly after Hanni revealed she was being bullied at work, leading fans to file complaints with the Ministry of Employment and Labour.
Notably, during a live broadcast on YouTube, Hanni shared that she was told “Ignore her“from a manager of another group at the HYBE building. This incident prompted many fans to petition the Ministry of Labor.
Min Hee-jin quickly denied allegations that she was involved in instigating Hanni’s claims, sharing text messages exchanged with the Chosun Biz reporter on her SNS to clarify her position.
In this conversation, Min said: “I do not know of any government officials involved in this matter, nor have I ever directed or requested anything. The claims made are completely false and speculative. The communication in question came unexpectedly from the uncle and, as can be seen from the conversation records, there is no relevant discussion on the date mentioned. Furthermore, it also emerges from the conversations before and after the date in question that I was not the one who started the discussion; rather, I received suggestions.”
He further added: “Intentionally writing the article to make it appear that I am a suspicious person is a serious violation of journalistic ethics. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to check the facts with me before publishing such an article?”
Min asked“The article should be deleted and I believe I am owed an apology.”
