Police probe alleged leak of NewJeans member Hanni’s visa information

Police have opened an investigation into accusations that ADOR, NewJeans member Hanni's agency, deliberately leaked private visa information about the singer in an attempt to portray her as an illegal resident. 

Attorney Park Kang-hoon appeared at the Seoul Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul on Monday to represent pop culture critic Kim Sung-soo in their complaint accusing ADOR and its employees of violating the Personal Information Protection Act, according to law enforcement on Monday.

Investigators reportedly asked Park whether information such as the type of visa and its expiration date is protected under the law in question.

“The Personal Information Protection Act does not apply only to information that is impossible to obtain elsewhere,” Park said. “The law may be violated when sensitive personal information is disclosed through unauthorized channels.”

Park also alleged that very few ADOR employees had provided reporters with internal information about Hanni’s visa extension application, details that later appeared in several entertainment news reports.

“The agency was responsible for managing her legal status in Korea, which is critical for any foreign national, but instead weaponized it,” Park said. “We need to find out who passed that information to the media.”

Hanni, a dual citizen of Australia and Vietnam, has worked in Korea on an E-6 culture and entertainment visa.

In February 2025, however, some entertainment news outlets reported that Hanni could become an illegal immigrant if she left ADOR as she would no longer meet the requirements for the visa. At the time, Hanni was in a dispute with the agency after announcing the termination of her exclusive contract.

The controversy subsided after it was later disclosed that Hanni had obtained a new visa.

Park also said police had shown him some 1,000 petitions submitted by members of the public and fans calling for severe punishment of the talent agency.

Culture critic Kim filed the complaint against ADOR and its employees with the Seoul Yongsan Police Station on July 28. Kim contended that the defendants violated the Personal Information Protection Act.

“Only immigration authorities, the individual and the agency handling the application would have access to information about a foreign national’s visa expiration date and the status of a visa extension application,” Kim said. “It is difficult to understand how such insider information, which could not have been obtained through ordinary reporting, was disclosed through anonymous sources described only as ‘multiple music industry insiders.’”

Kim noted that the leakage was deliberate.

“ADOR used Hanni’s visa information to fuel the perception that she was an undocumented immigrant in an effort to gain the upper hand in the dispute over her exclusive contract,” Kim said.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]