Min Hee-jin will remain the CEO of ADOR for the time being, after a court ruled in favour of her injunction to prevent HYBE from exercising its voting rights at an upcoming shareholder meeting.
According to reports by Yonhap News Agency and Korea JoongAng Daily, today (May 30) the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favour of an injunction filed by ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin to prevent HYBE from dismissing her as the head of the K-pop agency.
“The reasons for Min Hee-jin’s dismissal or resignation claimed by HYBE have not been sufficiently substantiated,” the court stated, per MyDaily via Soompi. “While Min Hee-jin’s actions may be considered betrayal to HYBE, it is difficult to say that they constitute actions of breach of trust in regards to ADOR.”
The new ruling means that HYBE, which owns 80 per cent of ADOR, will not be able to remove Min as the CEO of the K-pop agency at an upcoming shareholder meeting tomorrow (May 31). In comparison, Min owns about 18 per cent of the company.
According to Korea JoongAng Daily, HYBE can either “either appeal the decision or gather new evidence required to call for another shareholders’ meeting”. The publication also reports that the entertainment giant has already line-up replacements for the ADOR CEO role.
The decision to hold a shareholder meeting was first announced by legal representatives of ADOR on May 10. The move was reportedly made “under the attendance of all board members”, including Min Hee-jin.
The court ruling on Min Hee-jin’s injunction comes amid an increasingly heated feud between the ADOR CEO and HYBE over the ownership of the K-pop agency, which is home to NewJeans.
Last month, Min Hee-jin denied claims made by HYBE that she had planned to takeover the K-pop agency in a press conference. HYBE later responded to claims made by Min, alleging that the ADOR CEO had “distorted the facts by mixing up the timeline”.