ADOR Accuses Min Hee Jin Of A Secret Deal With NJZ’s (Formerly NewJeans) MV Director
ADOR claimed that former CEO Min Hee Jin granted excessive privileges to the production company Dolphin Kidnapping Group. According to ADOR, Min paid the company a total of ₩3.30 billion KRW (about $2.27 million USD) in 2023 alone for the production of four music videos — amounting to roughly 25% of Dolphin Kidnapping Group’s annual revenue (estimated at ₩13.2 billion KRW (about $9.06 million USD)). The agency pointed out that other production companies typically charged ₩200 million KRW (about $137,000 USD) to ₩300 million KRW (about $206,000 USD) per music video for NJZ (formerly NewJeans), whereas Min repeatedly approved contracts worth over ₩1.00 billion KRW (about $686,000 USD) per video, far above industry norms.
ADOR also accused Min of improperly intervening in external contract reviews. The company submitted as evidence a KakaoTalk message in which Min allegedly forwarded the stock purchase agreement between Dolphin Kidnapping Group and Kakao Entertainment to ADOR’s deputy CEO L — a former accountant, asking for a review.
Furthermore, ADOR claimed that the contract between Dolphin Kidnapping Group and Kakao Entertainment included a side agreement requiring Dolphin Kidnapping Group to achieve ₩18.0 billion KRW (about $12.4 million USD) in operating profit by 2026. ADOR questioned whether Min channeled work and inflated payments to help the company meet this target.
Min admitted to receiving a copy of the contract from Dolphin Kidnapping Group director Shin Woo Seok, but stated she was unaware of its contents, adding, “I didn’t review it myself — I believe Deputy CEO L did.”
Finally, ADOR argued that Min’s decision to upload the director’s cut of NJZ’s “ETA” on Dolphin Kidnapping Group’s YouTube channel (480,000 subscribers) instead of HYBE’s official channel (78.7 million subscribers) caused financial and reputational losses to HYBE and ADOR, while benefiting Dolphin Kidnapping Group.
Dolphin Kidnapping Group is known for creating hit MVs for NJZ including “ETA,” “Ditto,” “OMG,” and “Cool With You,” all in the same year.
