Should NJZ (Newjeans) Have Won In Court Against ADOR?
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 March 21, the 50th Civil Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court accepted ADOR’s application for an injunction against the NJZ (NewJeans) members, ruling that NJZ should not engage in independent activities. This decision comes after NJZ began promoting their own activities, having claimed that their contracts were terminated due to the violation of ADOR’s contract.
NJZ intends to challenge the court’s decision and has since shared their thoughts about the ruling. In an interview with BBC, Hyein noted that “the situation looks unfavorable” for NJZ from “a societal point of view.”
I know that there are some people who think that we are in a position where we are famous, we can say and do anything we like. But we have held it so much before we finally are speaking about the injustice that we have faced. Honestly, looking at it from a societal point of view, the situation is unfavorable towards us. But I think that this also is a reflection of the truth. It really took a lot of courage to speak up.
— Hyein
In the same interview, Danielle admitted that she had expected the group to win. Currently, however, public sentiment seems to be siding with the court’s decision rather than with NJZ.
I was obviously expecting the alternative results, so I think it was a moment where we were all just really kind of in shock.
— Danielle
NJZ’s BBC interview was met with criticism, with some netizens taking issue with NJZ’s approach to terminating their contract as well as their decision to engage with media outlets.
In a Koreaboo poll, netizens were asked if NJZ should have won the court case. 28% of voters said yes, while 72% of voters said no.
