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Ex-ADOR Min Hee-jin reasserts that legal battle is not about money, but 'to protect her pride'

Published: 04 Dec. 2025, 18:42

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of ADOR, on Dec. 4 [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of the K-pop agency ADOR, has recently reasserted that her legal battle against HYBE isn't for the money: “The shareholders' contract lawsuit is to protect my pride,” she said during her appearance on a JTBC YouTube channel on Thursday.

She also shared her plans to make a boy band — not a girl group.

Min argues that she has the right to demand that HYBE buy back her shares of ADOR, per the contract. HYBE, on the other hand, claims that it is not obligated to do so because it legally and rightfully terminated the contract following Min's breach of trust.

"[The lawsuit is] costing me so much that I'm literally broke,” Min said in the video. “But I thought it was a fight worth fighting. I was fired from my position in August [2024], and then I stepped down as a member of the board in November [2024]. If I really wanted to make money, I could have just stayed another quarter so that [ADOR's] operating profit increased. If it really was about the money, wouldn't I have just endured another three months?”

It was more about the fact that she felt betrayed by a specific clause in the contract, according to Min.

“I later found a noncompete clause, and I felt so betrayed,” she said. “I felt so humiliated, and I couldn't stay another day.”

“There are a lot of people who say they want to invest in me,” Min added, further emphasizing that she didn't pursue legal action for the money. “After news broke that I established another company, I've been getting calls from inside and outside of Korea. Some people are set to work with me, but they haven't yet because [my agency's] building is still under construction.”

Asked about her new agency ooak, which stands for “one of a kind,” and its plan to hold a private audition this week, Min said that it was customary for K-pop agencies to hold private auditions at dance studios.

“Studios regularly hold private auditions,” Min said, adding, “I don't think that I'll be making a girl group. I may in the future, but I'll be forming a boy band — for now.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]