Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Airdore, announced legal action against Hive, and at the same time, terminated the shareholder contract and resigned from his position as an in-house director. The conflict, which began with Hive's attempt to audit the door in April, has entered a new phase.
In this regard, former CEO Min said in a statement released today (20th) that he will terminate the inter-shareholder contract signed with Hive and hold Hive legally responsible for violations of the inter-shareholder contract, describing the last dispute process as "hellish seven months." What did he go through?
The conflict began on April 22 when Hive launched an internal audit of Adore. At the time of Min Hee-jin, Hive cited suspicions of "the usurpation of management control" of the CEO and management of Adore as the justification for the audit. Min Hee-jin claimed to have detected circumstantial evidence that he induced the sale of Hive's stake in Adore, leaked internal data such as contracts, and committed misconduct such as soliciting personnel. In response, former representative Min countered that Hive's audit was unfair and that it was a retaliatory audit for raising suspicions of plagiarism of the New Jeans concept of Billifrap's new girl group Eilit.
In addition, former CEO Min also refuted Hive's claim about the scenario of deprivation of management rights, saying that the evidence presented by Hive was only at the level of a personal idea memo.
In May, despite former CEO Min's opposition, Hive held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to appoint Hive's figures, including Kim Joo-young (CEO of Hive CHRO), as the inside board of directors and began to take control of Hive. On Aug. 27, Min was removed from the leadership position by Hive, and Kim Joo-young was appointed to the leadership position.
As the pressure on former representative Min progressed rapidly, Newzins also responded to it. The members of Newzins sided with former representative Min through a petition submitted to the court, and in September, they officially demanded "Min Hee-jin's return to the representative position and normalization of the adore" through a surprise video transmitted to YouTube.
And on November 13, Newzins sent Hive a proof of content requesting "Return it to the before March 2024, when Newzins were happily active," signaling another legal battle.
In addition, Newzins took issue with the expression "You can throw away Newzins" mentioned in Hive's internal documents, identifying who ordered him to abandon Newzins and calling for civil and criminal action for misconduct. The members expressed their intention to terminate the exclusive contract if Adore did not accept the request.
A week later today (20th), Min Hee-jin of "New Jin's Mom" announced her resignation as an executive director and began declaring an "outdoor struggle." He strongly criticized Hive for his illegal audit, dissemination of false information, and media play, saying, "Hive's atrocities will be recorded in K-pop history."
In particular, former CEO Min said, "It was a hell of a fight that began with baseless violence by a group that used the falsehood of a large company," adding, "Hive's moral hazard has already reached its peak, and dirty media play will continue, but I'm not worried that it has reached the point where even the public can read the pattern now."
With Min resigning after seven months of infighting, it ostensibly looks like a victory for Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk. However, the conflict with Hive has entered a new phase, with former representative Min signaling legal action. As a fierce legal battle is expected between the two sides, it will take a considerable amount of time for the situation to be settled. As a result, the K-pop industry's attention is focused on future developments as the future course of Newzins has also become unclear.
* YTN star receives reports related to celebrities and people in the entertainment industry. Please feel free to contact us at
ytnstar@ytn.co.kr . Thank you.
[Copyright holder (c) YTN Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution and use of AI data prohibited]