Adoer "Hybe, Illegal Audit by Threatening Employees... Obstruction of Business"

"Adore Members Suffer Due to Illegal Audit"

Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, is making a statement on the 25th at the Korea Conference Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, regarding the conflict with the parent company HYBE. Earlier, HYBE announced the results of an interim audit on ADOR's management, including CEO Min Hee-jin, and stated that they would file charges against them for breach of duty and other allegations. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Hive subsidiary Adore claimed that there was an illegal audit conducted by Hive's audit team ahead of the board meeting scheduled for the 10th.

In an official statement released that day, Adore stated, "Ahead of Adore's board meeting to be held today, an unfortunate incident occurred where Adore members suffered due to an illegal audit based on unreasonable issues raised by Hive's audit team until early this morning."

Adore asserted, "Hive's audit team began auditing the head of Adore's style directing team around 7 p.m. on May 9, after working hours ended," adding, "The audit lasted over five hours, continuing past midnight on May 10, and even went beyond the scope of work by following the member to their home while they were working, demanding not only their laptop but also their personal phone, which is not company property."

They continued, "Moreover, the audit team abused their authority by making extremely serious threats such as 'If you do not cooperate, you will have to go to the police station,' causing psychological pressure on our member through unreasonable actions," and condemned, "Despite informing them of the member's schedule from early morning, the coercive audit actions clearly constitute obstruction of business."

Furthermore, they said, "Adore takes this matter seriously because it appears to be similar to the coercive audit conducted recently on the vice president, showing Hive's intention to create issues to find fault with Adore and CEO Min Hee-jin at all costs," adding, "Since Hive announced the audit contents to the media last month simultaneously with the audit, they have been conducting black propaganda through various media forms. We are transparently informing you first out of concern that this coercive audit might also be used for such media play."

Meanwhile, Adore will hold a board meeting at an undisclosed location in Seoul this morning to decide whether to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders.

Earlier, CEO Min's side stated at the hearing for the approval of convening the extraordinary general meeting held at the Seoul Western District Court on the 30th of last month that they would hold a board meeting by today to decide on convening the extraordinary general meeting and then hold the meeting by the end of this month. If the decision to hold the extraordinary general meeting is made on this day, the schedule will be set after the 15th. Since the 25th and 26th fall on the weekend, the earliest possible date to hold the extraordinary general meeting is the 27th.

Currently, it is known that CEO Min's side is leaning toward making the decision on the 31st. This is interpreted as a strategy to form a sympathetic public opinion and pressure Hive if the dismissal of CEO Min, known as the 'NewJeans mom,' coincides with NewJeans' domestic release of the new double single 'How Sweet' on the 24th.

Separately, CEO Min's side has filed an injunction with the court to prohibit the exercise of voting rights in favor of the dismissal agenda against Hive.

If the injunction is dismissed, Adore will proceed with the management replacement process. However, if the court grants the injunction, CEO Min will maintain her position for the time being.

The injunction hearing will be held on the 17th at the Seoul Central District Court.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.