NewJeans reportedly declines settlement with ADOR during the second hearing of the exclusive contract dispute

The South Korean girl group, NewJeans, and their agency ADOR are making waves on social media after the the girl group firmly rejected the suggestion for settling the case during the second hearing on June 4, 2025, at the Seoul Central District Court, as per Korea JoonAng Daily.

The girl group that made its debut in 2022 is best known for their singles like Cookie and Hype Boy , and is in this ongoing legal dispute with their agency since April 2024.

During the second hearing, their agency ADOR expressed their willingness to explore the option of settlement, however, NewJeans declined the settlement as their trust had been broken, as a reason.

More on what happened at the NewJeans vs. ADOR case hearing

On Wednesday, June 4, 2025, was the second hearing of the NewJeans vs. ADOR case. The girl group did not make an appearance at the court but were represented by their legal team instead.

When the court asked if either of the sides has a wish to come to a settlement, this is what the girl group's legal team said, as per All Kpop:

''The relationship of trust has been completely shattered. We have crossed a river and can no longer return. I’ll need to discuss it with my clients, but a settlement is unlikely.''

On the contrary, this is what their agency ADOR's side had to say:

''If the court comes to a decision regarding this case, then a settlement will be easy enough.''

Further, the girl's group legal team argued saying that the agency didn't do its job properly as a management. They said that after Min Hee-jin was removed from her position as the CEO, the company had changed drastically, because of which NewJeans had lost their freedom. They also added that the girl's group had requested the agency to fix things several times, but they didn't pay any heed.

The agency's legal team replied by saying that NewJeans keeps on changing their reason to leave which shows that they have already made up their mind to quit. The girl group's legal team then stated:

''If you look at the evidence presented by ADOR, it's clear that the evidence is insufficient. ADOR claimed that it fulfilled its management duties by presenting a list of potential producers for NewJeans to work with, but that is not the full extent of the company's responsibilities. ''

They continued:

''If ADOR met producer Hitchhiker as claimed, then they must also disclose what matters were discussed and what were the outcomes of this meeting.''

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Previously the court had ordered the girl group, composed of five members to not be involved in activities without the agency, ADOR's permissions and if they did so they would have to a fine of pay ₩1 billion KRW each time.

The third hearing is scheduled to take place on July 24, 2025.

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