HYBE CEO refutes ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin's claims: ”It's clear that they planned to take over the company... We will consider legal action if necessary”

Amid confusion over ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin's suspicions of stealing management rights, HYBE's CEO has clarified his position.

　On the 23rd (today), CEO Park Ji-won directly clarified his position in an internal email sent to employees. CEO Park stated, "There has been a lot of news surrounding our company recently. I believe that our employees, who until then have worked with pride as part of a company that leads the entertainment industry, are feeling a lot of confusion and perplexity."

　CEO Park commented on the recent revelation of the "management takeover scandal" of ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, "I myself could not help but feel regretful. However, since this case clearly shows the company's attempted takeover, we have decided to launch an audit to confirm and rectify the situation. If the contents that have already been confirmed to a certain extent both inside and outside the company are further clarified through this audit, the company will make it clear that it will take definite measures against the responsible parties."

　He continued, "Employees should not be too preoccupied with what is currently being reported in the media. Currently, the responsible entities are not fully responding or refusing to respond to the company's legitimate audits, and the claims they are making are largely untrue and baseless."

　Earlier, HYBE caught wind of the alleged management grab by Min Hee-jin and the ADOR management team and invoked its auditing authority against them. In the process, Min Hee Jin revealed that the rookie girl group "ILLIT," which came out of HYBE label BELIFT LAB, copied all areas of entertainment activities, including hair, makeup, costumes, and choreography of the girl group "NewJeans," adding, "HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who was the produced the debut album of "ILLIT," claiming that HYBE was dazzled by short-term profits and copied successful cultural content without any reservation, mass-producing banality rather than showing novelty.

　However, CEO Park clarified his firm position, saying, "We understand that the matter in question now has nothing to do with the debut date of 'ILLIT' and was planned in advance, and the company will take action against it after further confirming such details in detail through the current audit."

　The company also told the employees of ADOR, to which "NewJeans" belongs, "We believe that you are more anxious than anyone else because of this matter. We would like to ask you to do your best for the comeback and growth of 'NewJeans,' which you are undertaking now, without feeling anxious," and to the employees of BELIFT LAB, to which "ILLIT" belongs, he said, "We would like to ask how you have been working for the debut of 'ILLIT' and what efforts you have been making. We know better than anyone what kind of efforts you have made for the debut of 'ILLIT. I know you must not feel good about this sudden outburst of news, but I ask you not to be hurt by what is not true, but to press on for the success of 'ILLIT'."

　Finally, CEO Park promised, "We will put this matter behind us, and we will also continuously worry about what we must do to make up for the advancement of multi-labels, and what we must do for the growth and development of 'NewJeans' and 'ILLIT."

　Meanwhile, HYBE plans to send a letter to the ADOR board of directors demanding that a general shareholders meeting be called, demanding the resignation of representative Min Hee-jin, and if necessary, depending on the results of the audit, to take civil and criminal legal action.