Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, currently in a 26 billion KRW (≈18.8 million USD) put option dispute with HYBE, is facing allegations of submitting “manipulated KakaoTalk conversations” as evidence in court.
The issue was raised during the September 11 hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, where HYBE presented an alternate version of the same chat logs submitted by Min. According to HYBE, the “original” conversations included additional lines suggesting Min staged the exchange with a former ADOR executive. Messages allegedly read: “I’m going to capture this, so write it well,” “Delete it and rewrite it,” and “Now it’s time to act, go again.”
HYBE argued that these instructions appeared to show Min directing the dialogue, undermining the credibility of her claims that a key ADOR executive had suffered harassment from HYBE officials. The exchanges reportedly took place in January 2024, just before the conflict over ADOR’s management erupted.
The case, overseen by Civil Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Judge Nam In Soo), combines two lawsuits: Min and others seeking payment under the put option, and HYBE’s countersuit to confirm termination of the shareholder agreement.
In response, Min rejected the allegations, telling Sports DongA:
“The September 11 hearing only covered ADOR’s direct questioning of its witness. Since there was no time for cross-examination, my rebuttal will be presented at the next hearing on November 27. The reports are based on one-sided arguments and may not be accurate.”