Full Translation Of HYBE’s Statement In Response to ADOR Min Hee Jin’s Press Conference
This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
On April 26, HYBE issued an official statement addressing ADOR Min Hee Jin‘s press conference held on the day prior. The following is the full translation of HYBE’s statement.
“Hello.
HYBE would like to state the following.
We would like to explain the whole truth regarding the statements made by ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin at her press conference on April 25 in order to protect our shareholder value and IP.
1. Regarding the claim that management takeover was a joke and just part of a private conversation:
There are records of discussions that have gone on for months related to the takeover in transcripts and work journals. When private conversations on the same topic occur over a long period of time and accompanied by a third-party intending to intervene, it is no longer simply a private conversation but planning and implementation of said plan.
Moreover, the vice-president who CEO Min was talking to is a certified public accountant with specialized knowledge of corporate operations. They are a person who has been involved with HYBE being listed on the stock exchange and numerous M&As. In addition, they are a key executive of ADOR, being in the position to be able to access all of the company’s financial information. The vice-president also wrote in their work journal that CEO Min’s remarks were to ‘ultimately escape.’
You could never say that it is all just a joke. We cannot ignore the discovery of documents referring to ideas such as calculating the amount of money they would earn from put options, specifying the timing of their planned actions, preparing a lawsuit for infringement of rights, mentioning outside investment companies, and starting media play campaigns as just a joke. There is even a written record of the vice-president stating that what they discussed should ‘be treated as a private conversation.’
2. Regarding the claim that the financial compensation was small:
CEO Min claimed a salary of ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.46 million USD). More precisely, this includes a ₩2.00 billion KRW (about $1.46 million USD) incentive for the performance in 2023, separate from the salary and long-term incentives. This ranks first among all employees of HYBE headquarters and its subsidiaries in Korea.
HYBE has also provided significant stock compensation, the value of which is unimaginable to the general public. Yet, CEO Min led negotiations to an impasse with demands for amounts the company could not accept. We view this as building a case for independent management.
3. Regarding the claim that an audit happened immediately without a response to the whistleblowing email:
Our company sent a detailed six-page response at 10:01 AM on April 22nd, which CEO Min read around 12:00 PM on the same day. However, CEO Min repeatedly claimed in the position statement and at the press conference that ‘no answer was received.’
The audit was conducted after several months of detecting attempts to take over management and confirming the leakage of sensitive business documents. It is nonsensical to demand notification of an audit schedule for such a serious misconduct case.
4. Regarding the claim that there was no guidance on returning property containing company information:
HYBE staff visited CEO Min’s work studio and her residence at 10am KST on April 22 to retrieve company property as part of the audit process. During this process, we contacted her several times through e-mail, mobile phone, and landline, but CEO Min did not respond.
At 6pm KST on April 23, when the deadline imposed for the return of company property expired, we once again requested the return of company property and assets through ADOR’s vice-president Shin. Vice-president Shin stated, “CEO Min is busy and thus cannot [return the property].” We found out about her position on returning company property through the media without any notice. It is irresponsible and untrue to conclude that what happened was just media play.
It is also a false claim that we took away her computer to prevent her from working ahead of [NewJeans‘] comeback. As soon as we received it, we provided a new laptop, and existing materials that were on the old laptop were also downloaded on the new one so that there were no issues with work. Other individuals who were audited are also working with new devices now.
5. Regarding the claim that we promised for her group to debut as the first girl group:
This is part of our response to her in detail, through an email on April 22, 2024. We think that the reason CEO Min claimed she never received an email from us is because she cannot make such untruthful and untrue claims, if she admits that she saw our response. This is the detailed response we sent her.
‘CEO Min, you are making a false claim that is based on your own unique and wrong interpretation of the process of how you separated from Source Music. The reason why NewJeans could not become the first girl group from HYBE was not because HYBE did not keep our promise. At that point in time, you requested to be able to have all the responsibilities in creating the group, and you strongly insisted that you would debut them under your own separate label. HYBE respected your opinion, so even though Source Music opposed this, we transferred the members to ADOR, and gave you a huge amount of ₩16.0 billion KRW (about $11.7 million USD) in support up to now, allowing you to debut NewJeans in the way that you wanted. In this process, because of contract transfers and creating the separate label, NewJeans’ debut was delayed, in no relation to HYBE’s intentions.
What’s more is that this process has also been admitted to by yourself. In your interview with one outlet on March 24, 2022, you claimed that you yourself oversaw the planning of the girl group project, and that you planned the launch in the third quarter of 2022. You mentioned “The young members would naturally feel the burden of a rushed debut. I did not want to make everyone feel rushed, so I decided to launch the group in the third quarter of 2022, as it is a reasonable time.”‘
6. Regarding the claim that we asked Min Hee Jin not to promote NewJeans during the time of debut:
Due to the R&R issue between Source Music and yourself, NewJeans’ debut was delayed, and LE SSERAFIM, which Source Music was planning, ended up debuting first. The two groups had consecutive debuts, and there was not enough time to sufficiently promote both of them, so we decided on set periods for their schedules and promotions. In the case of LE SSERAFIM member Sakura, there have been many articles about her transfer to HYBE since before she even signed with us.
In this situation, there was a case where we were worried that information would be leaked about the member composition for NewJeans, if we say that ADOR’s debut team is only made up of rookies, because people already knew that Sakura joined Source Music. In order to protect the news value of both groups, we made that request of you, and we also shortened our set period of promotion [for LE SSERAFIM] so that we could start promoting NewJeans.
Regarding this, we have already sent her the following in an email.
‘In addition, you had an interview two months before LE SSERAFIM’s debut (May 22, 2022), so you already had ample time to promote your new group; you could have known to promote them then.
In disagreement with your claims, the staff know very well just how much Source Music and HYBE actively supported and gave in to ADOR.’
7. Regarding the claim about neglecting only NewJeans’ promotions:
She mentioned this during her internal complaint as well, and this was our detailed reply to her in email.
‘HYBE’s Communication Department is doing their best for NewJeans’ PR. In the past year, they have written and spread 273 press releases just for NewJeans. For BTS’s group and individual promotions (total of 8 units), BIGHIT MUSIC’s articles total to 659 pieces. SEVENTEEN promoted 4 different units, and Pledis’ articles total 365 pieces. Comparatively, it’s hard to claim that NewJeans’ PR has been neglected. The company is doing our best to spread the word about all our labels and artists without any discrimination.’
8. Regarding the claim of a slave contract:
Although there is an obligation in the agreement to keep the non-competition clause confidential, CEO Min mentioned it at the press conference. This clause is required to prevent unfair competition by the seller selling shares and founding a similar business in the same industry. These clauses are common in any industry.
The statement that they are bound indefinitely are also untrue. CEO Min can sell her shares starting in November, and if she sells, she will not be subject to ban on competition from November 2026, when her contract expires.
The conditions, which even allow cashing out and starting a new venture in two years, are far from what could be considered a ‘slave contract,’ as CEO Min herself expressed confidence in earning a significant amount, stating that she could make ₩100 billion KRW (about $73.0 million USD) without doing anything. These are unprecedented and generous compensation terms that ordinary individuals could hardly imagine.
Furthermore, in KakaoTalk conversations between CEO Min and her associates, there’s a mention of exercising stock options to exit on January 2, 2025.
Regarding the interpretation of the clauses related to the sale in the contract, there was a difference in the priority of the two clauses, and the response sent in December last year already stated, ‘If the interpretation is ambiguous, resolve the ambiguous clause so that it does not become a problem.’ While CEO Min claimed to have no interest in money, the central issue that triggered the discussion was the scale of compensation.
9. Regarding the argument to implement ESG management:
We are actively practicing ESG management activities within our capacity. Regarding the eco-friendly albums diligently pursued by the company, CEO Min disparagingly remarked, ‘Melting photocards are a joke.’ Converting the plastic material of digital albums into paper, as well as transitioning album cases and photocards into environmentally friendly biodegradable materials, required significant manpower and costs for the company.
Embracing and investing in these changes willingly represent ESG management. While we are pushing for the expanded application of eco-friendly albums across all labels under the HYBE umbrella, internal members are well aware that ADOR is the most uncooperative label.
10. Regarding the claims that there were no attempts to communicate:
HYBE has continuously been in discussions with CEO Min regarding modifying the shareholder agreement, but the discussions were suspended when HYBE received an inquiry that CEO Min was a whistleblower. Nevertheless, HYBE faithfully responded to the inquiry’s claims that CEO Min was a whistleblower.
However, instead, CEO Min colluded with lawyers and accountants that are HYBE employees behind the company’s back and consulted with them on how to modify the shareholder agreement and raise issues in the form of whistleblowing. The audit confirmed that she was in contact with law firms and outside investors to discuss the takeover of management rights.
11. Regarding the claim that the shaman is simply a friend:
It is not feasible to consider an external individual who intricately involves themselves in management as merely a friend.
There has been an exchange of undisclosed information about executive stock options, potential investor names, and shareholder percentages within a management takeover structure based on the shaman’s suggestions. Such a relationship cannot be seen as merely friendly when it involves disclosing critical company information to an outsider and influencing decision-making, including receiving requests for job placements.
The company views these actions very seriously.
12. Regarding the claim that HYBE does not care about NewJeans…why during comeback time:
CEO Min’s side initiated attacking the company via email around the time of NewJeans’ comeback. Records obtained through forensics contain instructions from CEO Min since April to prepare for a publicity campaign and records indicating efforts to create noise to harass the company. We, in turn, would like to ask whether or not she thought that putting pressure on the company at this time would make us accept her request, which is unreasonable at this point.
In fact, it is CEO Min who is threatening the company by holding the artist hostage. If the compensation plan is accepted, it’s good, but if it’s not accepted, she’d try to use it as an excuse to end the relationship.
While the company has accommodated and compromised with CEO Min’s recurring demands for years, this time, it has come to realize that these demands are part of a so-called ‘build-up’ process for a takeover of management rights. Regardless of timing, in order to preserve the value of the multi-label, we had no choice but to initiate an audit. Furthermore, we repeatedly requested not to mention artists in press conferences and interviews, as it showed that she did not value the artists.”
— HYBE
Stay tuned for further updates.
