Experts Report On How Much NewJeans May Have To Pay To Terminate Their Contracts
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.
NewJeans is currently stuck in the middle of HYBE and ADOR‘s very public feud as HYBE management and ADOR’s CEO Min Hee Jin battle over control of ADOR and its assets. HYBE has accused Min Hee Jin of trying to gain control of the management rights to ADOR, while Min Hee Jin denied the accusation. She retaliated with allegations that she had filed internal complaints about ILLIT plagiarizing NewJeans, only to be slapped with a sudden audit and ousting. She also continues to maintain that she ever tried to usurp power.
While the truth is still unclear, some feel that her sudden accusation of plagiarism may have been done in a bid to avoid paying the hefty penalty fees for breaking of contracts. Not only would she have to pay NewJeans’ contract-breaking fee if she wants to take them with her, but she would also have to pay the fees for breaking her own employment contract with HYBE.
In NewJeans’ case, according to Korea’s Fair Trade Commission’s standard exclusive management contract, the fees that one has to pay for a termination of contract is the sum of the average monthly sales for the previous two years, multiplied by the number of months remaining in the contract. They would also have to pay back the investments that they received. Although no one knows for certain how much money the company invested into NewJeans, an entertainment industry official claims that the average cost for a girl group is between ₩7.00 billion KRW (about $5.10 million USD) to ₩1.00 billion KRW (about $729,000 USD).
NewJeans’ remaining contract period is said to be around 60 months. They also recovered all its investments thanks to their success, and were paid a salary after just two months of debut. This allows them to be exempt from paying back the investments, as is usually the case for other, less successful celebrities. NewJeans’ average monthly income has been estimated to be ₩3.50 billion KRW (about $2.55 million USD) during their debut era. Based off that, they would have to pay at least ₩210 billion KRW (about $153 million USD) in penalties. The amount is probably more, as their income has increased more than the original debut era income.
*Information for the numbers was provided by Business Post Korea, and may contain inaccuracies.
