A court in Seoul has ordered K-pop group NewJeans to pay 1 billion won (USD $726,300) per member for each unauthorized activity outside their agency’s control, potentially totaling 5 billion won ($3.6 million) if all five members perform together.
Multiple news outlets out of South Korea reported that the Seoul Central District Court on Friday (May 30) approved ADOR‘s enforcement application, citing violations of a March injunction that prevented the group from doing independent promotional activities.
The ruling follows NewJeans‘ appearance at ComplexCon Hong Kong under the name “NJZ” and release of a song called Pit Stop without ADOR’s consent.
The fine reflects standard Korean court penalty imposed for failing to comply with a court order, according to Chosun Biz. Each violation triggers the 1 billion won fine per member, placing further financial pressure on the group while their contract dispute case proceeds.
“The indirect compulsory decision announced today was made in response to an application submitted by ADOR on April 4. It is not directly tied to the appeal of the original injunction, which is still under separate legal review.”
NewJeans
In response to the ruling, NewJeans dismissed it as “temporary until the appeal is resolved.”
“If the NewJeans members win the injunction appeal, both the original and the related indirect enforcement rulings will lose their legal effect. In practice, indirect enforcement is typically issued in conjunction with an injunction ruling,” NewJeans’ team was quoted by Allkpop as saying.
The statement added: “The indirect compulsory decision announced today was made in response to an application submitted by ADOR on April 4. It is not directly tied to the appeal of the original injunction, which is still under separate legal review.”
NewJeans continues to appeal a court ruling that prevented them from engaging in independent activities outside their agency ADOR.
On May 21, the group’s appeal case has been assigned to Civil Division 25 of the Seoul High Court, with presiding judges Hwang Byung Ha, Jung Jong Kwan, and Lee Kyun Yong overseeing proceedings.
The five-member girl group has recently added Park Hyung Nam, a 65-year-old former director of the Judicial Policy Research Institute and representative attorney from law firm Wooseung, to their legal team.
KBIZoom and Naver reported in May that NewJean’s legal team includes lawyers who formerly represented ADOR‘s former CEO Min Hee-jin.
In response, HYBE-owned ADOR also strengthened its own legal team with former Constitutional Court justice Kang Il Won and attorney Chun Ji Sung, daughter of former Justice Minister Chun Jung Bae. The agency had already secured former senior High Court judge Hong Seung Myeon earlier this month, bringing its total legal team to 13 attorneys, the report said.
The dispute between NewJeans and ADOR traces back to November 2024 when NewJeans unilaterally declared their exclusive contract with ADOR terminated. ADOR responded by filing for injunctive relief, securing the March order that prohibited external advertising deals and independent promotion.
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