New label and boy band keep former NewJeans producer Min Hee-jin going amid legal battles

SEOUL - Nearly two years after a bitter fallout with her former employer forced her to part ways with the K-pop girl group she created , South Korean music producer Min Hee-jin is preparing for a fresh start with a new label and plans to debut a boy band. The former CEO of K-pop agency Ador, which manages girl group NewJeans, launched her new entertainment label One Of A Kind (OOAK) in February, and has since conducted auditions for its first group. Speaking to the Seoul-based foreign media at a networking event on July 9, Min said she is excited about the new venture but declined to reveal when the group would debut. “I’m still in the midst of forming the members and getting to know them better. But because nothing is fixed yet, I wouldn’t want to announce anything too hastily,” she said in Korean through an interpreter. Min added that the prospect of creating a new group helped sustain her through the legal battles that have dominated headlines over the past two years. She also said the global attention generated by the success of the Oscar-winning animated film KPop Demon Hunters (2025) had prompted her to rethink K-pop’s business model. “I think we are standing at an inflection point where the K-pop industry can take its next step forward,” she said, adding that she had long wanted to create a group that would “appeal to people who love music and people who love culture”, without being driven by the pressure to achieve fame quickly or churn out albums at a rapid pace. Once hailed as the creative architect behind NewJeens’ meteoric rise since their 2022 debut, the 47-year-old became embroiled in one of K-pop’s biggest corporate battles after Ador’s parent company Hybe accused her in 2024 of trying to wrest control of its sublabel. Min has denied the allegations, arguing that Hybe had marginalised NewJeans and allowed another of its girl groups, Illit, to copy NewJeans’ concept. She was removed as Ador’s chief executive in August 2024. The dispute escalated a month later when the five NewJeans members - Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein - publicly demanded Min's reinstatement during a livestream, warning they would leave Ador if she was not restored as its chief executive. The quintet later announced in November 2024 that they were terminating their exclusive contracts with Ador and attempted to pursue independent activities under the name NJZ. Those activities were halted after a court granted Ador an injunction barring the members from promoting independently while the contract dispute was being litigated. As at November 2025, Hyein, Haerin and Hanni have returned to Ador, while Minji's contractual status remains under discussion. Ador terminated Danielle’s exclusive contract in December 2025 and is pursuing a damages lawsuit against Danielle, her mother and Min over the alleged breach of Danielle’s exclusive contract with the label. In a court hearing for the lawsuit on July 2, Ador unveiled evidence that it claims shows that Min had orchestrated NewJeans’ attempt to leave the label. Ador also accused Danielle of hiding a “dual contract” signed with a Chinese-backed event company to perform independently while her exclusive agreement with Ador was still legally binding. When asked about this latest development, Min did not give a straight answer and instead launched into a tirade, claiming that all the media reports so far are “one-sided” and urged the media to “listen to both parties in the dispute”. “Right now, the reports that have come out are too deeply unbalanced. It’s like 99.9 versus 0.1, how can I give any answer?” she said. In response to The Straits Times’ query on whether the legal troubles have affected work at OOAK, Min said: “People on the outside might not know all the facts, but just like the Korean proverb, those who are innocent can sleep soundly at night with their legs stretched out, but those who have committed many sins cannot sleep soundly.” Speculation has been mounting that NewJeans is preparing for a comeback, with Haerin, Hyein and Hanni reportedly spotted filming in Copenhagen, Denmark in April, with more recent videos purportedly showing them in New York circulating online. Asked by ST how she felt about NewJeans moving on without her, Min said: “If there is one thing I wish for, it is for (Ador) to keep their promise to take good care of the NewJeans members if they returned to the label. I hope they keep that promise.”