As the group New Jeans made the unprecedented ‘declaration of exclusive contract termination’, the public‘s attention is focused on their future actions.

As of midnight on the 29th of last month, New Jeans, who declared that they would terminate their exclusive contract with their agency Adore, are sending one ‘strong attacks’ after another to Adore. On November 30th, they released the full text of Adore’s response to a certified letter containing six demands, and they also stopped using Adore‘s fan platform ‘Poning’.

It is expected that New Jeans, who have truly set out to stand on their own, will continue their activities for the time being, with the five members and their parents directly deciding important matters. Some of the members have expressed their desire to “work with former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin,” but it is not easy to find a third agency in reality, as legal disputes regarding exclusive contracts are unavoidable.

According to a comprehensive report by Sports Donga on the 1st, New Jeans directly prepared for the emergency press conference regarding the termination of exclusive contracts that was held suddenly on the night of November 28th, after consulting with the parents. It was found that these parents took charge of related practical work such as recruiting a public relations agency, security team, and communication on behalf of the members. It seems that they will continue their activities in a similar manner in the future.

However, in accordance with the promise to “carry out the set schedule as scheduled,” they appeared on TV Asahi’s “Music Station” that was broadcast live on November 29th, the day after the press conference. New Jeans, who performed ‘Dito’ and ‘How Sweet’ on the broadcast, greeted fans with “Thank you” without any particular mention of the dispute with Adore.

It has also been confirmed that there are no changes to the guest appearance schedule for the Japanese mixed duo Yoasobi concert in Korea, which will be held at Incheon Inspire Arena on the 7th and 8th, as of the afternoon of the 1st. They are expected to appear on domestic and international year-end special stages such as the ‘2024 SBS Gayo Daejeon’, Japan’s Fuji TV ‘2024 FNS Song Festival’, and ‘Countdown Japan 24/25’ scheduled for this month.

New Jeans is also planning to create a new channel to communicate directly with the fandom instead of platform phoneing. On the morning of November 29, the members each posted a message saying, “Today is the last ‘Phoning’ update. We will continue to share us in other ways.”

In addition, member Minzy garnered attention by changing her profile picture to a scene from a famous animation, known as a ‘resignation picture’, and member Hani changed her status message to the phrase “See you on the other side”.

There is also a possibility that New Jeans will continue to communicate with former CEO Min Hee-jin, who produced them.

The members drew attention by mentioning former CEO Min Hee-jin several times during the press conference declaring the termination of their exclusive contract with Adore.

Former CEO Min also seemed to support New Jeans‘ statement of ‘I will leave Adore and work freely’. On the morning of November 29, the day they announced the termination of their remaining contract, they posted an image of the Beatles’ song ‘Free as a Bird’ on their personal SNS.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com