[비즈한국] Girl group NewJeans, who departed from ADOR last year, has recently returned. ADOR is a subsidiary of HYBE352820, and while it experienced rapid growth thanks to the popularity of NewJeans, its performance plummeted after the group's departure. With NewJeans back, the entertainment industry is closely watching whether ADOR's performance will improve. However, ADOR ultimately rejected the return of NewJeans member Danielle. As a result, NewJeans is expected to be reorganized from a five-member group to a four-member group. Given the rising criticism from the fandom, it is difficult to guarantee whether NewJeans will regain its former popularity.
Initially, ADOR was led by Kim Ju-young, HYBE's Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), but the position was changed to CEO Lee Do-kyung in August of last year. At the time of the change in leadership, ADOR explained that it was "to begin full-scale operations as a label that performs planning and management for artist activities, including music and concerts."
CEO Lee Do-kyung joined HYBE in 2019 and has been responsible for business strategy and new business ventures. In 2022, she served as vice president of the IPX Business Division, which promotes businesses based on the artist IP (intellectual property) of HYBE Music Group. CEO Lee, tasked with the heavy responsibility of recovering NewJeans' popularity, is reported to have been actively involved, such as by meeting personally with the members' parents when the NewJeans members attempted to return.
Performance Depends on NewJeans
Because NewJeans is the only artist currently active under ADOR, the future performance of the label effectively rests on the group. When NewJeans announced the suspension of their activities at ADOR in 2024, performance figures dropped significantly. According to HYBE's quarterly reports, ADOR's revenue fell 73.06% from 90.5 billion won in the first three quarters of 2024 to 24.4 billion won in the same period in 2025.
Although NewJeans has recently returned, their prospects for regaining popularity remain uncertain. Kim Min-young, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated to Meritz, "Given the period of hiatus, we need to monitor their future activity plans," adding, "As a group that broke even within a year of debut, they are expected to contribute at least 20 to 30 billion won or more in profits starting from 2027."
A variable is that ADOR refused the return of NewJeans member Danielle. ADOR stated, "We determined that it would be difficult for Danielle to continue as a member of NewJeans and as an artist under ADOR, so we notified her of the termination of her exclusive contract." In response, the NewJeans fandom, Bunnies, criticized the move, saying, "This is an outrageous act of unilaterally dissolving the complete five-member NewJeans group and a deceptive act toward the court, the parties involved, and the fans." ADOR and NewJeans cannot afford to ignore the criticism from their fandom. If the criticism continues, the possibility that they may not regain their past popularity cannot be ruled out.
Former CEO Min Hee-jin Also a Variable
Another variable for ADOR is the ongoing legal dispute with former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin (current CEO of Okei). ADOR has filed a lawsuit for approximately 43 billion won in damages against Danielle, former CEO Min Hee-jin, and others, citing their significant responsibility for NewJeans' departure and the delay in their return.
Separately, former CEO Min Hee-jin and ADOR are also in litigation regarding a put option. When former CEO Min left ADOR in 2024, she exercised a put option against HYBE. Min holds an 18% stake in ADOR and has the right to sell a portion of it to HYBE. HYBE has countered that the put option is invalid because former CEO Min caused losses to the company, which constitutes grounds for termination of the shareholder agreement. The stake in ADOR that Min can sell to HYBE is reported to be worth 26 billion won. Former CEO Min filed a lawsuit for the put option payment in November 2024.
If the dispute between former CEO Min Hee-jin and ADOR drags on, it could affect public sentiment toward NewJeans. Even now, there remains a significant segment of public opinion that supports the former CEO. Some voices criticize the NewJeans members, claiming they followed the former CEO out of the company and only returned to ADOR when things did not work out as planned.
In August 2024, ADOR recruited lawyer Kim Hak-ja as an outside director. Since ADOR is an unlisted company, it is not under an obligation to appoint outside directors. The entertainment industry views the recruitment of Kim as a move to strengthen the objectivity and procedural fairness of the board of directors during the dispute with former CEO Min Hee-jin.
Lawyer Kim Hak-ja was recently appointed as a member of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea. The State Public Officials Act stipulates that "public officials shall not engage in any profit-making business other than their official duties and may not concurrently hold other positions without the permission of the head of their agency." Accordingly, Kim resigned from her position as an outside director of HYBE on December 15 of last year.
The entertainment industry is showing great interest in whether ADOR will appoint a successor outside director. Since the dispute with former CEO Min Hee-jin has not yet been resolved, analysts suggest that there is a high possibility of appointing a successor to ensure legitimacy. A HYBE official stated regarding a successor for the ADOR outside director, "We are carefully reviewing the matter, and nothing has been decided yet."