Min Heejin releases her first official statement since her press conference [TRANSLATED LONG TEXT]
May 19, 2024
[Theqoo - Hot] [Full text] Min Heejin, "HYBE is putting NewJeans in trouble... Please wait for the court ruling" First statement since the press conference
Below is the full statement from ADOR CEO Min Heejin
Hello, this is Min Heejin.
For the first itme since the press conference, I am writing to you from a personal perspective.
The reason I am writing this article in a less formal manner rather than using a formal statement in because the nature of the issue I wish to disclose, contains important context that cannot be conveyed in the form of an official statement.
I am puzzled and inadvertently sorry as to why I am communicating my stance to an unspecified audience and what relevance it has to the readers of this article. However, since April 22nd, I have been having preplexing days every day. I am writing this because it is necessary to minimiz misunderstandings and correct the false facts claimed by HYBE in court.
I believe you have already seen my straightforward personality through the press conference, so I will speak frankly.
The reason why honesty is extremely necessaary in this article is because the essence of the matter is far from being strictly formal, solemn, or serious.
I am the one who actually experienced it. I respectfully will decline any prejudice that may regard this serious matter lightly.
1.
First, I would like to adress the Naver and Dunamu issue.
My acquaintance Mr. A invited me to dinner at 7:30 on March 6, 2024.
Person A told me not to feel uncomfortable as his longtime friends would be present, when I met A's acquaintances, they were older and very friendly.
During the meal, one of A's acquaintances mentioned that another friend would be joining us. At the time, I had no idea who it would be About an hour later, this person arrived and initially. I didn't know who they were. When they introduced themselves, I realized it was Mr. C from Dunamu, someone who had expressed a desire to meet me through Chairman Bang Sihyuk a long time ago. He mentioned that he wanted to attend the dinner because he knew I would be there. He was very interested in NewJeans and curious about me as their producer. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Mr. Be from Naver, who was well-acquainted with all the attendees, had also been contacted and joined us. Thus, we ended up with all these attendees, unrlated to my will, and the gathering concluded as a personal meeting without any investment discussions, as all attendees can attest.
Contary to HYBE's grandiose media play, surprisingly that meeting with Mr. C from Dunamu is entirely just an encounter.
On what basis is HYBE making false claims, given that they were not present at that meeting?
Mr. C mentioned he would like to attend a NewJeans concert at the Tokyo Dome, and our subsequent conversation ended with a brief discussion about the concert. My interactions with Mr. B were also limited to a few exchanges about personal concerns.
On my way home after dinner, I mentioned to Vice President L abut the people I had met by chane that day. Upon hearing this, Vice President L commented that it might actually be beneficial for both HYBE and ADOR, if a company like Dunamu, which had invested in HYBE, became the owner of ADOR. However, this idea is pratically infeasible. We are well aware that it cannot be done without HYBE's consent. Since that day was the first time I met Mr. C from Dunamu, we did not even discuss such matters.
Regardless of its feasibility, hearing this gave me a brief sense of relief.
As the CEO of ADOR, I have always thought that ADOR was like an 'outcast,' suffering from subtle harassment and bullying within HYBE. I don't know if it can be a crime to imagine wanting to escape from a perpetrator you cannot escape.
We don't live in a world where "thoughts are censored," so what kind of probles is this? I am th to scrutinize the thoughts of HYBE executives in the same way.
After joining ADOR, Vice President L was shocked to learn that ADOR was suffering such mistreatment from HYBE, despite being part of the same organization. He asked me, "How have you been managing all this time?" For this reason, Vice President L and I only discussed ways to avoid various forms of harassment from HYBE and how to respond ot it. Yet, HYBE maliciously captured and edited his conversation to make it seem like some grand scheme and execution.
I still cant believe that I have to explain the story of a private meeting at such length, as if I were explaining a major crime.
Have you found any evidence of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that you seriously claimed?
It is shocking how HYBE involves people who are also acquaintances of theirs, putting them in a difficult positin to exploit the situation.
It is simply unresonable ot propose an acquisition to people I coincidentally met for the first time at a dinner with acquaintances. I repeat, if thorough verification of this matter is need, I requested a four-party meeting, including HYBE.
I have never made such as a proposal to Naver and Dunamu, so HYBE should verify with Naver and Dunamu if they have ever received an acquisition proposal. Instead of confirming just the "meeting," confirm the "purpose of the meeting and the conversations that took place."
Regardless of the facts, I mentioned it because I thought that based on my experience so far, a pun-like headline like "I admit to having met with Naver Dunamu" could emerge.
You are well aware that when I said "I have not met with investoris," I meant "I did not meet with them with the intention of seizing control." I hope you do not fall for obvious wordplay.
People can have various social statuses: president, lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc. For instance, if it is a school parent meeting, regardless of whether a representative from an investment company attends, it remains a parent meeting and does not become a lawyer's meeting or an investor's meeting.
Even if I had met with an investor, what is the problem with a CEO or deputy CEO of a company meeting an investor? Do you suspect and question other subsidiary presidents within HYBE for meeting investors? Have you audited those who entertain investors and clients in places like room salons and tenpro establishments?
And why were there no proposals for meetings or verbal inquiries before the audit?
There was sufficient reason to discuss the matter through an internal whistleblowing document, so why was a meeting never requested?
According to the "Subsidiary Audit Rights under the Commercial Act," considering the independence of the subsidiary and the parent company, the parent company’s audit committee must first request an investigation report from the subsidiary, and if the subsidiary does not comply or the report is insufficient, the parent company can directly audit the subsidiary.
Why did HYBE conduct an excessive and illegal audit, risking a stock price drop? The evidence HYBE presents was all illegally obtained.
No matter how much you argue and forcefully push, you cannot create something out of nothing.
Please avoid from framing issues like "Did you meet with investors or not" in a misleading and distorting manner.
2.
Complex human affairs and relationships cannot be explained simply with a few randomly cut and pasted KakaoTalk messages.
There is no reason to make excuses, and it is not a matter that requires an explanation.
People who do not know my personality, usual manner of speaking, style of joking, or the context of those conversations should not simplify and judge the situation. I am confident that anyone else would be in the same predicament if subjected to HYBE's low tactics of editing and piecing things together.
New Jeans and I have been through many things and various situations that you may not know about. I cannot explain all of it here, nor do I have to. Providing unnecessary additional explanations would involve revealing other people's private matters and create more misunderstandings, causing continuous harm, which is unnecessary.
We have been suffering so much because of so many things you are unaware about, but these experiences have also strengthened and solidified our relationships in ways unimaginable to others
Perhaps it is the nature of the idol business, something I have been involved in for over 20 years and still do not fully understand, that has shaped us this way.
Running a business in a prejudiced industry, with young individuals, and with someone else's money has been excruciatingly difficult and required overcoming countless difficulties.
Most people are not born rich. Most, except for a few, grow up in ordinary households, and securing business funds on their own is similar to reaching for the stars. It is also a skill to receive investment based on one's talent when one has no money. Starting a business with such investment is not a crime. Even though we have repaid more than ten times the initial investment in a very short time, and have provided immense value that cannot be measured in money, why should I be framed as a traitor, egotist, or usurper just because I started with the investment? Where has the value I provided to HYBE disappeared? Wasn't it for that value that I was brought into HYBE?
The idol business I experienced was full of contradictions. Balancing the pursuit of profit with the well-being of young individuals is never easy.
If I had been less obsessive, things might have been easier. If I had been just a simple salaried president, perhaps it wouldn't have been so exhausting. My passion, driven by a needless sense of responsibility to ensure everything was flawless, has often felt like a curse, making me question myself countless times. However, looking back, I have no regrets about the past.
As we went through all of these painful, difficult, enjoyable, and difficult processes together, NewJeans and I seem to have become united with a strength that is like a family, but different from that simple family relationship. Regardless of what others think, our relationship goes beyond any simple explanation.
After being attacked with those edited KakaoTalk messages, the members sent me messages of comfort. These weren't just simple words of comfort; they were filled with love. These messages continued until the next morning. I cried out loud not because of the misunderstandings and insults from strangers, but because it pained me that everyone involved had to go through such horrible, unjust situations. While it’s frustrating that some people fall for such transparent tactics, it’s not their fault; the blame lies with those who spread the misinformation.
However, if they were someone who cared about NewJeans at all, the best thing you can do is to keep the members out of these baseless issues as much as possible.
No matter how much I am disliked, if you care about the future of the members, you would not do such things. I have been committed to suing malicious YouTube channels. I always wondered who would provide such channels with such personal and malicious information, and I found this situation particularly ironic.
Some people might easily say that I can just give up, but if I hold onto my humanity and think about it one more time, and when I think about the situations we have been through and experienced, that is not possible.
Tens of millions of times a day, I think about who this work is for and what it is for.
If I had chosen to compromise and go along with things, I would have been financially secure after my term. However, I chose to take risks and become a whistleblower because there are values I want to protect. Would someone whose sole aim is money go through the hardship of whistleblowing, fighting, and attempting legally impossible methods that require HYBE's approval? It would not add up.
Despite stating multiple times that money was never my primary concern, those who don't know me will think what they want. No matter how much I am belittled, those who know me understand. My future decisions and actions will speak for my thoughts and beliefs.
I don't wish to persuade those who misunderstand, but I make this statement because the values I hold dear are more important than money.
Anyone who knows the process, decisions, and judgments I have made so far will understand.
To be honest, I have wanted to leave this corrupt business, which are full of absurdities countless times.
I have no desire to present myself favorably to those who don’t know me.
Experiencing something like this makes me once again question why I have fought so hard to keep this going, but I am reminded that there will always be a good cause and purpose that I have been holding on to.
HYBE has already put NewJeans in a difficult position. To be honest, the actions that have brought us to this point are horrifying and repulsive.
Humans are not dolls. They are not things that can be turned into a dolls based from someone’s judgment or stigma. Because each person's life is precious, this is not something that should be decided through a public trial by people who have never even worked together.
No matter how much HYBE wants to turn me into a witch, they do not know me better than those who truly understand me.
3.
In life, conflict can be an unavoidable choice. Nevertheless, I am one of those people who really feels sorry for all the hostility in the world. I don't like conflict, but I also think that we must accept it as an essential, even painful process to take a better leap forward. I have a tendency to be self-deprecating, but I try to muster as much positive energy within me to accept this absurd reality in the same context.
I do not take sides, appeal to or seek support from any particular group or gender just because I am in a difficult situation. This is because human individuality is not simply determined by gender. I think that because their characteristics are different, they have different reasons for existence.
I am a person who has a lot of thoughts and worries. That's why anyone who knows me can feel that I am overflowing with reasons and explanations for everything. Therefore, my usual thoughts or philosophies cannot be easily judged by fragmented, context-lacking snippets.
Because of this tendency, I aim to work with as small a group of people as possible. There are very few members within ADOR who communicate directly with me in detail, around 5 people. This preference stems from personal trauma.
Strangely enough, since my previous job, I have been constantly under a variety of stress due to people slandering me for doing something I didn't do, or people lying about me as if they had met me even though I rarely engage in outside activities. Because I do not enjoy drinking, smoking, or entertainment, and I did not know how to relieve stress, and had a history of receiving treatment, I think I further minimized meetings out of self-defence.
Even though I have had little direct communication with HYBE employees outside of ADOR, I have heard many reports of people talking as if they have worked with me directly. Despite this, I want to express my gratitude for the supportive messages cautiously conveyed by the members in our team.
While going through this incident, I suddenly remembered something that CEO Park Ji-won once said in passing. He casually mentioned how adept he was at restructuring in his previous job and what needed to be careful about, which I had dismissed at the time. Now, I find these memories chilling, never expecting them to resurface in this manner.
HYBE, before the audit, conducted a "forensic investigation" without my consent on the laptop I used when I joined the company, which I had returned after resetting two years ago. They peeked into my private life, shared this information among themselves, and included it in the audit documents. How is something from before ADOR was established related to this audit?
Moreover, while dozens of journalists were present in the courtroom, knowing they were being observed, HYBE chose to read only a portion of my private conversations, which were personal and irrelevant, in a provocative manner. I wasn't there at the time, but hearing about this later, I found it appalling that they would go to such lengths to violate my personal privacy and honour.
HYBE unlawfully took our vice president's laptop to find something to attack me with, threatened and coerced the vice president, and pressured ADOR members to enter their homes late at night to demand personal phones. They then edited and leaked unrelated private conversations.
Despite these harsh actions, they released articles claiming to protect the members. The true intention behind this audit is highly questionable.
HYBE, who has inspected even private KakaoTalk conversations, would be well aware of how much content is favourable to me and how much content is unfavourable to them in the unedited context.
Despite the provisions in the "Corporate Law Subsidiary Investigation Rights," HYBE's illegal audit, conducted by their own standards, shows their appalling moral insensitivity.
4.
I urge everyone to focus on the essence of the matter.
If the true intention was an audit and evidence of a takeover attempt was secured, there would be no need for a massive media play. With precise evidence and a proper audit process, they could have handled it swiftly and quietly, only announcing the results externally. This would have prevented stock price drops and avoided unnecessary discord.
The essence of the current dispute lies in resolving a serious problem that endangers the futures of many, including myself, in the best possible way.
This is not about a public trial of my personal life based on fragmented and biased information and fabrication.
Currently, we are in the midst of a legal dispute.
It is a time when we must wait for the judge's decision based on the facts.
I am sick of HYBE's malicious use of topics that are out of context, fabricated, and misleading in order to get their point across, but what's even more horrifying is that if this kind of behaviour is allowed, it won't only apply to me in the future. That's why I will not give up.
Although I haven't seen the petition submitted by Chairman Bang Sihyuk, the expression 'evil' written in the headline left a deep impression on me. I once again realized that even the same word can have vastly different meanings.
The articles are derived from unfounded facts.
Once an unfounded article appears, it becomes the frame even though it is not true, and we have to release articles explaining it, which makes the process last year. And it is inevitable that it will be easy to be incited by the argument that attacked first.
In this way, since it is difficult for the public to determine what is true, it is right to wait calmly for the court's decision rather than being swayed by indiscriminate articles and then organize the subsequent steps.
I would like to conclude this post by saying that I am sorry for the unavoidable concern and inconvenience caused.
Thank you
Comments
- Even though I only know what has been going on so far recently, I know that Min Heejin is far ahead in terms of consistency and logic.
- Min Heejin and NewJeans must be going through time and yet ㅋㅋㅋ... They still have to deal with HYBE. It must be so tiring watching these wreckers and brainless people who only trust these wreckers online
- I hope you find strength until the end, no matter how difficult it is.
- How funny was it when the judge told HYBE to only talk about legal issues? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Kim & Chang is also like a b*tch. There was no evidence of the takeover of management rights, so they blurted out the shaman's family history and brought up the shaman's family history and brought up the KakaoTalk message from 2 years ago as evidence
- HYBE and Bang Sihyuk, how ugly will they continue to get? No matter what more they bring, they hate Min Heejin so much that they just wants to kick her out
- I believe in CEO Min Heejin's beliefs, the people she wants to protect, and the values she pursues. It may be difficult, but I hope she overcomes it well... I will support Min Heejin, ADOR, and NewJeans for the rest of my life
- Min Heejin, I hope the government will help and support her for the time being. I really support Min Heejin. Fighting
- Master writer Min Heejin... I believe in you... I'm rooting for you. I'm rooting for you endlessly ㅠㅠㅠ
- HYBE is a real mess. They're trash that can't even be separated and collected for the bins. I even feel sorry for the mop if it touches them.
- Handing over KakaoTalk data to wreckers really crossed the line, and the fact that a major agency did that makes the future of K-pop look bleak
- No but seriously. If you look at what HYBE is doing, it's possible that they have hidden bugging devices in the phones of their idols as well...
- At least CEO Min continues to make consistent claims and speaks in accordance with those claims. HYBE was making a fuss about her being a breach of trust, but when they found it was impossible to fight back, they began to media manipulate with no basis behind it... What's the point of shielding them?
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