On the morning of April 3, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 41 (Presiding Judge Jeong Hoe-il) held the first hearing in the lawsuit filed by ADOR against the five members of NewJeans, seeking confirmation of the validity of their exclusive contract.

Previously, on March 7, the members of NewJeans attended the hearing for the injunction in person and expressed their position. However, they were absent from today’s main trial.

Despite their absence, fans were seen at the entrance of the court holding sketchbooks with messages of support such as “NJZ Fighting”, “Stay Strong NJZ” and “We’ll Wait for NJZ.”

This main lawsuit follows the injunction application previously filed in relation to the exclusive contract dispute. In that case, the court ruled in favor of ADOR. On March 21, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Agreement Division 50 (Chief Judge Kim Sang-hoon) fully granted ADOR’s request to maintain its status as the management agency and to prohibit the signing of separate advertising contracts.

The court rejected all 11 claims NewJeans made as grounds for terminating their contract, which included the dismissal of former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, a disrespectful remark made by a manager from HYBE’s sub-label BELIFT LAB, among others. The court ruled that the five NewJeans members cannot carry out entertainment activities, either independently or through a third party (including legal guardians), without ADOR’s prior approval or consent.

However, NewJeans immediately filed an objection to the decision. The hearing for this objection is scheduled for April 9. While NewJeans stated that they “respect the court’s decision”, they also expressed their intention to challenge the ruling through the objection process, saying they plan to “supplement the argument with additional evidence”.

Previously, members Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein declared the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR last November, citing breaches of contract. They subsequently launched a new team name, NJZ, and began independent activities, creating official accounts on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), YouTube and TikTok.

In response, ADOR asserted the contract remains valid and filed the current lawsuit to confirm the contract’s validity, as well as an injunction to prohibit the group from continuing their independent activities and entering into ad deals.