The legal battle for damages between former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and Belift Lab is officially back on!
The Seoul Western District Court’s Civil Division 12 is scheduled to hold the 6th pleading date on the afternoon of the 15th. This comes about two months after the court temporarily paused the proceedings in March.
This lawsuit kicked off after Min Hee-jin’s emergency press conference in April 2024, where she suggested that Belift Lab’s group ILLIT imitated NewJeans. At the time, she claimed ILLIT was being viewed as a “Min Hee-jin style” or “NewJeans copycat.” In response, Belift Lab filed a 2 billion won lawsuit, arguing that these baseless plagiarism claims caused significant harm to the rookie group and the company.
During previous hearings, Belift Lab argued that Min Hee-jin intentionally spread the plagiarism controversy to manipulate public opinion. On the other hand, Min Hee-jin countered that her statements were simply an expression of opinion to protect the artists’ identity. The two sides remain sharply divided over the admissibility of KakaoTalk conversations as evidence and whether the statements were false.
Meanwhile, the hearing for Source Music’s 500 million won damages lawsuit, originally scheduled for the same day, has been moved to the 29th. Source Music claims it suffered damages due to Min Hee-jin’s comments regarding the “direct casting of NewJeans members” and “neglecting members.”
Min Hee-jin is also currently involved in a civil lawsuit with HYBE regarding put option payments, as well as separate damages lawsuits related to the NewJeans exclusive contract dispute.
