NewJeans risks paying 3,900 billion VND in compensation if leaving HYBE, on the brink of being wiped out of Kpop

Girl group NewJeans is in a precarious situation as the recent scandals between the group and HYBE Group are getting more and more tense. Fans have also predicted a series of scenarios that could happen if NewJeans is eliminated.

The civil war is getting more and more tense. In addition to the harsh statement, HYBE also indirectly accused Hanni of lying in the livestream and deleted videos related to the group on the YouTube channel Ban Hee Soo. The top girl group of the 4th generation of K-pop is facing the risk of having to pay a large amount of contract compensation and possibly disbanding like the group Fifty Fifty.

NewJeans is set to debut in 2022. Considering the contract period of a Korean idol group is usually 7 years, NewJeans still has about 5 years left under HYBE.

The Business Post reports that the cost of ending NewJeans' operations could be huge. According to the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the fine is calculated by multiplying the average monthly revenue over the past two years by the number of months remaining on the contract.

According to Business Post, NewJeans' estimated minimum monthly income is around 3.5 billion KRW (equivalent to 64.5 billion VND). With 60 months left on their contract, the penalty the group faces is up to more than 210 billion KRW (approximately 3,900 billion VND). Regarding the investment that HYBE poured into launching NewJeans, since the group paid it back after their successful debut, this cost will not be counted.

However, industry insiders predict that CEO Min Hee Jin will likely solve the fine issue by accepting investment from foreign investors. It is said that the NewJeans incident is quite similar to the exclusive contract dispute between the group Fifty Fifty and the management company that shook the entertainment industry a year ago.

After NewJeans' livestream, HYBE Group held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and appointed Lee Jae Sang as its internal director. Immediately after the meeting, director Lee shared with The Bell about the noise surrounding the livestream of his "chicken": It will take time, but we are responding calmly according to principles. HYBE is a company that upholds principles, a company that pursues proper management, and this will not change.

"The one who keeps the principles is the ultimate winner," director Lee told a reporter from The Bell. According to The Bell, Lee Jae Sang's statement indirectly rejected NewJeans' request. This means former director Min Hee Jin will not be reinstated as requested by the group before September 25.

Xports News quoted legal experts as saying that the move gives HYBE two weeks to resolve the issue of proving that NewJeans members intend to file a petition to terminate their exclusive contract.

Therefore, the group's outright refusal could lead to a legal battle in the near future, and the underdog would be NewJeans. Koreaboo analyzed that although NewJeans members could leave HYBE through a lawsuit, they may have to compensate the "big guy" at least 300 billion won or a huge sum of up to 600 billion won.

Having debuted for less than 2 years, if NewJeans really sues, the five girls will have to shoulder the biggest debt in K-pop history. This could be the end of the female idols' careers.

Not NewJeans, but ILLIT - HYBE's new girl group - has been the one that has received the most criticism since the controversy began. In the beginning, the media's focus was on Min Hee Jin's shocking press conference "exposing" many of HYBE's problems. In it, the female creative director stated that the reason she was dissatisfied with the group was because the group stole ideas to create ILLIT.

Min Hee Jin's statement was like a "fatal blow", affirming that ILLIT was just an imperfect copy of NewJeans, causing the group to be shunned by the public.

NewJeans officially "erases" ADOR, removes the group's name on social media, and re-releases the cover Phúc Sen06:45:29 19/12/2024On December 18, fashion magazine Vogue Korea announced the cover faces for its inaugural issue (January) 2025, which are 5 female Kpop idols Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein (members of the girl group NewJeans).