‘New Jeans back to where they were!’ Everything is back where it was, and the law sided with Adore.

The court ruled ‘fully accepted’ regarding the injunction filed by Adore, the agency representing New Jeans, against the five members of New Jeans to preserve the agency‘s status and prohibit the conclusion of advertising contracts. The five members of New Jeans, who unilaterally notified of the termination of their exclusive contracts last year and went their separate ways, will now be put on hold not only their ‘return to the original’ with Adore, but also all of their entertainment activities they have been pursuing under the tentative name ‘NJZ.

In the case of the Hong Kong omnibus concert on the 23rd, where the members signed a performance contract on their own under the stage name NJZ without the agreement of their agency, Adore announced that it would proceed ‘under the premise that they would perform on stage as New Jeans’. As a natural measure following the court ruling, Adore also declared that it would provide sufficient on-site support for its artists, New Jeans.

On the 21st, the 50th Civil Affairs Department of the Seoul Central District Court ruled ‘in full acceptance’ regarding the injunction filed by Adore against five members of New Jeans, including Kim Min-ji, to preserve the status of the agency and prohibit the signing of advertising contracts.

The court ruled that Adore had “fulfilled most of its important obligations under the exclusive contract, such as its obligation to settle accounts, and (as the members claim) even if there were some shortcomings, there is no evidence that the agency failed to make corrections at all despite requests for corrective action or that the breach of obligations was repeated or continued for a long period of time,” and based on this, “it is difficult to conclude that the trust that is the foundation of the exclusive contract has been broken.”

The court also viewed the independent actions of the five members of New Jeans as “unilateral departure from the exclusive contractual relationship,” and explained the background to the injunction, saying, “Considering that if the five members promote under a new group name (NJZ), not only the value of the New Jeans brand but also Adore’s reputation as a management company will be severely damaged, it is necessary to prohibit singers such as Kim Min-ji and commercial activities as entertainers.”

Regarding the court’s acceptance of the injunction, Adore‘s agency welcomed the return of New Jeans and promised to meet with the artist soon to “have a sincere conversation” to resolve the conflict and misunderstandings.

Adore specifically expressed “thanks to the court’s wise decision” in accepting the injunction in its entirety, and emphasized that “as we have done in the past and present, we will fulfill our ‘responsibility’ in supporting the artist.’

Regarding the Hong Kong omnibus concert ‘Complexcon Hong Kong’ on the 23rd, where the five members of New Jeans unilaterally declared that they would perform on stage under the stage name NJZ, Adore drew attention by expressing their intention to proceed with it ‘if the minimum conditions are met’ rather than taking extreme measures such as terminating the contract. They stated that they would not raise an issue if it “is carried out under the name of New Jeans under Adore.”

Meanwhile, the five members of New Jeans said on social media that they ”respect the court‘s injunction decision,“ but hinted that they would file an objection to the ruling.

They said that ”the injunction is a temporary decision,“ and that ”the main lawsuit to confirm the validity of the exclusive contract between Adore and the members is also in progress, and we will make it clear once again that the contract was legally terminated at the oral argument date scheduled for April 3.“


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.