u/G_Clef_Start

【Objective Facts and a Few Personal Impressions】

① Characteristics of this article** ・A detailed analysis, rather than a collection of posts from social media ・The conflict between Bang and Min as its central structure ・The main claim: There is no sense of incongruity even if Magnetic is said to be a new song by NewJeans

② The amount of time available to complete the article** The MV was released around the evening? Not in the morning. In order for the article to be uploaded at 9:00 AM, the manuscript, or at least the components of the article, must have been completed by the previous evening. In other words, something close to its current form was completed within roughly 24 hours after the debut.

This was not a scoop about an idol's criminal activity or romantic relationships—something that would require every minute and every second to be rushed.

③ Who is this reporter?** The deputy editor-in-chief of 10Asia.

④ What group does 10Asia belong to?** It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Korea Economic Daily.

⑤ The Korea Economic Daily, HYBE, and MHJ** I will go into this in detail.

The Economics Department of The Korea Economic Daily includes Cha Jun-ho, who has been described on social media as an "MHJ speaker." In April, he was the person who quickly distributed the actual shareholder agreement document and repeatedly pushed MHJ's claim that it was a "slave contract." He was also the first person in the world to publish an article speculating about Bang Si-hyuk's arrest.

There were a large number of suspicious HYBE stock transactions around the time of that article, but I will leave that issue out this time.

Cha Jun-ho has not published any articles since the day The Korea Economic Daily was raided and searched in connection with the stock-price investigation. Where is he now?

⑥ A few personal impressions** The deputy editor-in-chief of 10Asia has been involved in Korean entertainment for a long time. However, this article gives me the impression of someone looking at things from a creator's perspective. I am curious about the existence of someone who provided the manuscript or the component information.

Also, it is a mystery why there was such a strong need to release the article so quickly.

[Extra Facts]

If I write this much, it starts falling into that "distant relative's acquaintance" kind of far-fetched connection, but since this isn't really a topic to spin off into its own separate post, I'll just write it here. The MHJ controversy has unfolded in a way that surpasses any K-drama thriller or conspiracy, so I decided to look into it by googling keywords related to MHJ and digging up factual posts on social media.

① Major shareholders of the Korea Economic Daily While the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) is an independent, unlisted company, the Korea Economic Daily is owned by chaebol groups as its major shareholders, with the Hyundai Group being the largest shareholder.

② The Hyundai Group, MHJ, and Macoll Around the time criticism against MHJ was peaking, it was the Hyundai Group that provided her with a platform to speak at a lecture event. Furthermore, the company MHJ had a consulting contract with was Macoll. The CEO of Macoll had written in a past blog post that they respect both the head of the Hyundai Group and Kakao's Kim Beom-su.

③ MHJ supporter hostile to HYBE joins the Democratic Party A former Seoul Newspaper reporter who slandered HYBE using Japanese sales volume data was appointed as a secretary to a high-ranking Democratic Party lawmaker just before the National Assembly turmoil.He was hailed as a hero by Bunnies for his criticism of HYBE, left the Seoul Newspaper, and subsequently became a candidate for an executive position at a KAKAO-affiliated company. When social media erupted in controversy, KAKAO withdrew his candidacy. After a short while, he became a secretary to a Democratic Party lawmaker.

This Korean article is dated October 15, 2025. It aligns far too closely with the timing of Bonnie Chan Woo's proposal to acquire ADOR and the period when the five members signed an agreement with Bonnie Chan Woo to hand over ADOR's confidential information.

The petition was submitted to the NewJeans lawsuit prior to the ruling on the validity of their exclusive contracts, yet it even includes a formal request to force a third-party sale of the agency.

Furthermore, according to images spread on X, other celebrities have also submitted petitions. Is it for fame, is he part of the clique, or is it a sense of justice? Three key characteristics: ① His X followers are significantly fewer than anonymous major accounts involved in the New Jeas controversy; ② Petitions have almost no impact on court rulings; ③ Petitions and criminal accusations do not require expensive lawyers.

https://x.com/dontforgetwind5/status/2099176335583420620?s=20

＜Key takeaways from the article＞20251015

・Kim Sung-soo, a prominent progressive pop culture critic, and Byun Hee-jae, a former conservative pop culture critic and CEO of MediaWatch, have jointly submitted a 12-page petition to the Seoul Central District Court (Civil Division 41, Presiding Judge Jung Hee-il)—which is handling the contract dispute between NewJeans and ADOR—urging the court to "find the 'wisdom of Solomon' so that NewJeans can continue their activities.

・They analyzed that "unlike the US and Japan, the reason why contract disputes between entertainment agencies and celebrities occur so frequently only in South Korea is due to the failure to introduce a certified agent system to represent celebrities' contracts, and the flawed standard contract that forces celebrities to tie all their activities and livelihoods to a single agency.They explained, "In the case of the United States, certified agents go around to record labels, concert promoters, advertising agencies, and broadcasters to negotiate separate contracts. Therefore, even if a contract dispute erupts with a particular record label, other activities aside from album releases can proceed normally.

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In response, Kim Sung-soo and Byun Hee-jae asked the court, "Citing the 1996 case where the court proposed a compromise of a trade two years later for Lim Sun-dong, who was in a lawsuit over an invalid draft nomination with the LG baseball team, please consider a mediation proposal for NewJeans that requires HYBE to sell ADOR to a third party within one year.

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Right now, Danielle and Min Hee-jin share the same law firm. In the past, an investigative report regarding Min Hee-jin's criminal complaints against malicious commenters was leaked and circulated by 'Team Bunnies.' Although the lawyer at that time was different from Danielle's current lawsuit, the condition of being Min Hee-jin's lawyer remains the same. Is there anyone or any company in the world that would trust or feel secure with just a written pledge? Would you trust it? I certainly cannot.

Timeline etc

1.First Instance (District Court) The claim for damages against Shin Woo-seok individually was dismissed, but Dolphin Kidnapping Crew (as a corporation) was ordered to pay 1 billion won in damages

2.Grounds for Appeal Both ADOR and Shin Woo-seok filed appeals

3.Previous Appellate Hearing and Afterwards

① The presiding judge requested evidence of the verbal agreement. ②ADOR had once applied for Apple's Vice President to appear as a witness, but the judge may have rejected it.

4.Inferences from Media Articles

If Shin Woo-seok had submitted powerful new evidence and engaged in a fierce legal battle, the media would have covered it as a scoop. The fact that the articles are purely routine and administrative suggests that Shin Woo-seok's claim—used to agitate the fandom in a public opinion war, stating that "there is evidence of a verbal agreement"—was likely false

5. My Thoughts / Impressions:

① Probability of a ruling that upholds/cites the first instance: **80%**.

② Probability of ADOR losing: **20%**.

Reasoning:** The former CEO, Min Hee-jin, testified in the first instance that she gave verbal permission. Therefore, the liability for negligence lies with Min Hee-jin (meaning ADOR), and the presiding judge will hand down a ruling stating that any damages or disputes regarding this matter should be pursued by ADOR against Min Hee-jin.

A major step forward toward normal entertainment activities for the returning member.

Her ability to not show any trace of a two-year hiatus is nothing short of professional.

②wowKorea movie

https://youtu.be/a35Dpn7cWtc?si=lkdYnHr-wsS3OXgQ

③④wowKorea Haerin zoom movie

https://youtube.com/shorts/qnV3vw2toX0?si=Pj7g8BEoLP1lsxWG

https://youtube.com/shorts/Ihpn-NEpvY8?si=C2VBrzvEzGCBAnoH