‘We must prevent the lawlessness from becoming illegal...’

This could be a ‘one-line summary’ of the background of the series of lawsuits by Adore, the agency that represents New Jeans who left home.

Adore, the agency for New Jeans, has filed an ‘injunction to preserve the agency‘s status and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts, etc.’ against the members of New Jeans, and attention is focused on the outcome. The background to the injunction application is that the members of New Jeans, who declared their independent course after the unilateral termination of their contracts, are ‘continuously’ attempting to individually contact advertisers to sign contracts, and that they want to prevent confusion and damage to third parties, including advertisers, that may ‘be a story’.

Adore also expressed concern that the legal dispute, including the injunction application and the lawsuit for confirmation of the validity of the exclusive contract, which will soon be heard, will inevitably ‘be prolonged’, and that as a result, both New Jeans and Adore will end up in a tragedy that will only leave ‘wounds that won’t pay off in years to come’, and repeatedly expressed their ‘will to have a sincere dialogue’ on the premise of a speedy return.

According to Adore, the injunction application for the preservation of the status of the agency and prohibition of signing advertising contracts with each member of New Jeans was filed last week.

In relation to this, Adore explained that this was a decision to “prevent confusion and damage to third parties, including advertisers, as the New Jeans members who unilaterally declared the termination of their exclusive contracts continued to independently contact advertisers and attempt to sign contracts.” Previously, on December 3 of last year, Adore filed a “suit for confirmation of the validity of the exclusive contract” against the New Jeans members at the Seoul Central District Court.

Regarding the “incidental circumstances” in which it filed an injunction following the suit for confirmation of the validity of the exclusive contract, Adore emphasized that it stemmed from its “unwavering will to accompany” New Jeans.

Adore explained, “If the confusion in the market and industry due to the members‘ independent actions continues, it will be inevitable for the brand value of New Jeans to decline,” and “We also reflected the judgment that even if the main court rules that the exclusive contract is valid in a few years, it may already be impossible to restore it to its original state by then.”

Meanwhile, Adore caught attention by confirming that New Jeans’ activities for this year, including the release of a full-length album, have been planned in preparation for their return.


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com