Court upholds ban on NewJeans' independent activities, dismisses appeal

Members of NewJeans speak to the press after attending a court hearing on March 7 at the Seoul Central District Court over Ador’s injunction request to prohibit the group from signing independent endorsement deals. Newsis

The Seoul High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the members of NewJeans (now promoting under the name NJZ), upholding a previous injunction that bars the group from pursuing independent activities outside of their exclusive contract.

The Seoul High Court's civil division, presided over by judges Hwang Byung-ha, Jeong Jong-gwan, and Lee Kyun-yong, rejected on Tuesday the appeal against the injunction filed by the group members.

NewJeans had argued that HYBE, their original agency, had destroyed the mutual trust underlying their exclusive contract. They cited the company’s alleged mistreatment, its audit and dismissal of former Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, and a lack of respect for the group’s interests.

The group further claimed that while HYBE would suffer only financial losses from a contract suspension, the members themselves would face irreparable damage from prolonged inactivity.

However, the court rejected these arguments. It ruled that the audit and dismissal of Min were not directly linked to the exclusive contract between NewJeans and Ador, and that the contract did not contain provisions requiring Min to serve as either producer or CEO.

K-pop girl group NewJeans / Courtesy of Ador

The judges also concluded that Min’s power struggle with HYBE had undermined the very foundation of the unified structure linking HYBE, Ador, and NewJeans.

Instead, the court found that HYBE had acted in good faith by creating a label specifically for NewJeans and investing significant resources into the group.

It noted that even after Min’s dismissal, HYBE had offered her the opportunity to continue as the group's producer and reinstated her as an internal director of Ador.

The court also pointed to a clause in the exclusive contract acknowledging that unilateral termination could result in substantial losses for Ador, a position the court said the members had agreed to.

Addressing NewJeans’ claim that the contract imposed unreasonable restrictions under Korea’s standard terms law, the court ruled that the agreement had gone through individual negotiations and could not be considered a boilerplate contract.

Even if it were deemed as such, the court added, the members had clearly agreed to the seven-year term.

The court also dismissed the group's claim that their inability to perform was causing irreversible damage, stating that the harm stemmed from their own refusal to honor a valid contract.

HYBE headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul / Yonhap

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.