2 hours ago
3
The 12th Civil Affairs Department of the Seoul Western District Court has suspended the damages lawsuits filed by HYBE subsidiaries BELIFT LAB and Source Music against former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, setting estimated dates for both cases instead of confirmed hearing schedules, effectively putting the trials on hold.
An estimated date, under Korean court procedure, means the court has not yet confirmed when the next hearing will take place and will designate one at a later time. Legal observers say courts typically take this step when they want to monitor the outcomes of related lawsuits before resuming proceedings.
The two lawsuits carry a combined value of 2.5 billion won ($1.7 million). BELIFT LAB, the agency behind girl group ILLIT, filed its 2 billion won ($1.3 million) suit in June 2024, alleging that Min's public claims that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans caused serious reputational harm to the group and disrupted its creative activities, according to Allkpop.
Min's legal team has maintained that her remarks reflected professional opinion about similarities between the two groups, not a formal legal allegation of plagiarism. The case completed five rounds of pleadings before the suspension was confirmed ahead of the scheduled sixth hearing on Mar. 27.
Source Music, the label managing LE SSERAFIM, filed its 500 million won ($325,000) lawsuit in July 2024.
The suit centers on remarks Min made during an April 2024 press conference in which she claimed she personally cast NewJeans members and accused HYBE of breaking a promise regarding girl group debuts. Source Music argued that the overall context of her remarks unfairly damaged the reputation of the label and its artists.
That case completed four rounds of arguments and had been set for sentencing in January before arguments unexpectedly resumed. The estimated date was confirmed ahead of a hearing on Mar. 13, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
The suspension comes at a time when Min is involved in several other high-profile legal battles. She is currently appealing a 25.6 billion won ($16.6 million) put option ruling against HYBE, which a Seoul court decided in her favor in February 2026.
She also recently began proceedings in a 43 billion won ($28 million) damages lawsuit filed by ADOR against her, former NewJeans member Danielle, and one of Danielle's family members.
Issues related to the BELIFT LAB and Source Music disputes have been referenced multiple times in both the put option and ADOR cases, which likely contributed to the court's decision to pause the proceedings, as per the Korea Times.
English (US) · 