NewJeans vs ADOR: Court expresses anger with 1 billion KRW penalty slap, reveals why fine was inflicted

Pink Villa

3 days ago

On May 30, another court hearing for ADOR's injunction to halt NewJeans' independent entertainment activities took place. The ruling went against the girl group as they were asked to pay a subsequent penalty amount of 1 billion KRW for each violation of the court's verdict. As it sparked netizen discussions, the court finally revealed the reason for such an order, as reported by K-media outlet insight.
Court revealed reason for NewJeans' 1 billion KRW fine order
Presiding Judge Heo Kyung Moo of the Seoul Central District Court's 52nd Civil Division reiterated his decision that NewJeans can't engage in independent entertainment activities or work with third-party agencies without ADOR 's approval. Citing the reason for inflicting a 1 billion KRW (approximately 730,000 USD) fine per violation, he said, it was necessary to ensure proper adherence of the verdict. Heo Kyung Moo mentioned a previous case where the NewJeans members did not follow the court order.
Court cited NewJeans' ComplexCon act as reason for 1 billion KRW fine
In March this year, NewJeans performed at ComplexCon, Hong Kong, without ADOR's consent, under their new moniker NJZ. As per the judge, it went against the court ruling. He also called out the girl group for releasing new music by using the name NJZ instead of NewJeans. Due to such instances, the court was of the opinion that the K-pop artists would continue their arbitrary acts, without respecting the court's decision in future at all. Hence, bringing a fine angle seemed like a viable solution.
'Even after the provisional injunction, they (NewJeans) violated the obligations, and it seems like they will continue to violate it in the future, so it is necessary to order indirect enforcement to enforce the performance of the obligations by the provisional injunction,' the judge said. However, the fine will get null and void if the quintet wins the exclusive contract validity case against ADOR, as clarified by NewJeans.
The hefty fine per violation set a new precedent in the Korean entertainment industry contract cases. The legal community saw it as a "strong decision to increase the injunction's effectiveness.'