Min Hee-Jin Claims HYBE's Bang Si-Hyuk 'Got Down On Knees' To Recruit Her; Reveals Plan Of NewJeans World Tour

Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-Jin revealed new details about her stint at Big Hit Music, during the latest hearing for her lawsuit against HYBE. During the session, she also spoke about the declaration of NewJeans

exclusive contract termination. The hearing is part of her ongoing legal battle with the company concerning the confirmation of the termination of the shareholders' agreement.On November 27, the 31st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the third hearing for the particular lawsuit, where the court continued its direct examination of Min Hee-Jin.

Min Hee-Jin's claims on how Bang Si-Hyuk recruited her

Min revealed that she was persuaded by Bang Si-Hyuk after she left her role at SM Entertainment. She asserted that since Bang wasn't confident about creating a girl group due to previous failed attempts, he tried to rope her in. "I resigned from SM Entertainment on December 31, 2018. HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk contacted me on January 2, 2019. When I asked how he knew just two days after I left the company, he said there were like informants inside SM who had found out about my resignation. He said he had thought I was ‘SM personified,’ so he hadn’t expected me to leave, and that he was glad I had. He strongly courted me, saying he wanted to recruit me as talent."She added, "He talked about his vision as well. Based on his distrust of the existing entertainment industry and his criticism of SM Entertainment, he said he wanted to try to reform the business. He said he wanted to do a girl group, but that he had failed badly before with GLAM together with So Sung Jin of Source Music. Since he had no confidence in girl groups, he needed me. At the time, I was also considering an offer from Kakao Entertainment."

Bang Si-Hyuk allegedly 'got down on his knees'

Min also claimed that Bang allegedly almost "got down on his knees" to recruit her." She claimed that seeing his sincerity, she decided to join HYBE. "By coincidence, my parents called me, and he told my father, ‘I will make sure your daughter can do what she wants and do it well,’ and ‘I really want her to come to our company.’ Because he had been a long-time fan of mine, he said he wanted to work with me — it was a situation where he was practically getting down on his knees to ask," Min said.

Min Hee-Jin reacts to HYBE's claim on role in NewJeans' contract termination

Min also rejected HYBE's claim that NewJeans terminated its contract with ADOR under her instructions. "You’ve seen my KakaoTalk messages. I had even planned a world tour for NewJeans, and terminating the contract would bring me no benefit. If I stay still, I can exercise the put option. And is it even possible for an exclusive contract to be terminated just because someone says so?""I emailed Chairman Bang Si Hyuk asking whether they recruited me just so they could freely copy my work, or if they thought I wouldn’t be able to do anything once I was inside. It meant: don’t underestimate us. I wanted corrective action," Min said.