Court Orders NewJeans To Halt Any Activities Without ADOR, Each Member Must Pay 1 Billion Won Per Violation Moving Forward

A South Korean court has ruled that each member of the girl group NewJeans must pay ₩1 billion (approximately $727,000 USD) to their agency ADOR for every instance they engage in independent activities without the company’s approval or consent.

According to reports that were released recently, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 52 (presided over by Judge Heo Kyung Moo) accepted ADOR’s petition for indirect compulsory enforcement against the five members of NewJeans — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein.

The court ordered, “If the respondents violate the obligation described in Paragraph 1 from the date this decision is delivered, each respondent must pay the claimant ₩1 billion per violation.”

The court explained that although the members appeared to have announced a suspension of activities after a concert on March 23, they directly or indirectly indicated an intention to act independently both before and after the injunction decision.

Furthermore, the court pointed out that “the members performed under a new group name and released a new song at the concert even after the injunction decision, thereby violating the obligations set in that decision. There is a possibility they will continue to violate these obligations in the future.”

As a result, the court stated, “There is a need to enforce compliance with the obligations set in the injunction by issuing an order of indirect compulsory enforcement.”

This decision follows a previous ruling in March from the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 50 (Judge Kim Sang Hoon), which granted ADOR’s request for a preliminary injunction banning the members from signing advertising contracts and reaffirming ADOR’s status as the group’s official agency.

ADOR filed this injunction to prevent the members from engaging in promotional activities independently and to confirm that the company still retains its position as NewJeans’ managing agency.

In April, ADOR requested that the court impose an indirect enforcement fine of ₩2 billion per violation, but the court has now settled on ₩1 billion per act instead.

Source: (A)