Seoul court rules in favor of ADOR in NewJeans contract dispute

A Seoul court has ruled in favor of ADOR in its contract dispute with girl group NewJeans, confirming that the exclusive contracts between the company and the five members remain valid.

The Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division delivered its decision on Thursday, stating that “the exclusive contracts signed on April 21, 2022, between the plaintiff and the defendants are valid.”

NewJeans had argued that their contracts with ADOR were terminated last November due to breaches by the agency, and announced plans to continue activities independently. The group said the trust between the members and the company had collapsed following the ousting of former CEO Min Hee-jin.

ADOR countered that the contracts were still enforceable and that it had “continued to fully support the group without any grounds for termination.” 

The agency filed a lawsuit in December 2024 seeking confirmation of the contract’s validity, along with a request for an injunction to block the members from independent activities before the court’s final ruling.

The court granted the injunction, prohibiting NewJeans members from engaging in solo or independent activities without ADOR’s approval. NewJeans’ objections and appeals were both dismissed.

In May, the court also granted ADOR’s request for indirect enforcement, ordering that if the members pursued independent activities, they would each owe 10 billion won ($7 million) per violation to the company.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]