https://v.daum.net/v/20241128232021011
Nov 28 2024, 23:20 KST
NewJeans held an emergency press conference on the 28th and announced the termination of their exclusive contract with their agency ADOR.
Just before the press conference, ADOR sent a 26-page response to NewJeans' ultimatum and content-certified mail.
While NewJeans members unanimously described the response as insincere, Yonhap News TV has exclusively obtained the contents of this response.
ADOR's basic position is clear.
They state that the exclusive contract signed between ADOR and NewJeans on April 21, 2024, remains valid until July 31, 2029 - seven years from their debut date.
They wrote that they had done their best to support NewJeans, resulting in the group's growth into a top-tier team both domestically and internationally in a short period.
Regarding the conflict between former CEO Min Heejin and parent company HYBE, they described it as an unexpected legal dispute, emphasizing that they continued to support NewJeans even after the change in CEO.
This included plans for fan meetings, regular album release, and world tour scheduled for next year.
However, they also expressed regret that NewJeans members and their parents did not give ADOR any opportunity for dialogue during this conflict.
Regarding the exclusive contract issues, they pointed out that failing to meet subjective expectations cannot be considered a contract violation.
They added that many of the issues that members claim as contract violations were actually problems caused by third parties' actions and words, not ADOR.
They explained that they had no means to enforce members' demands on third parties and added that the grounds and evidence were not clear.
From a legal perspective, they also expressed doubt about whether ADOR had committed violations severe enough to warrant contract termination.