Min Hee Jin vs LE SSERAFIM's agency: June hearing gets scheduled for KakaoTalk messages' validity as evidence amid NewJeans row
Source Music filed a 500 million KRW damages lawsuit against former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. Its second hearing took place on May 30, Friday, during when the agency was set to present some important 'evidence' of the case, that involved text messages. However, Min Hee Jin's side alleged the messages to be illegally obtained. Hence, the court ordered a separate hearing to check its legal validity, as reported by K-media outlet Sports Today.
Min Hee Jin's stance in the Source Music case
LE SSERAFIM 's label, Source Music, was prepared to present a 20-minute showcase of documents supporting their claims. However, Min Hee Jin 's legal representative raised an objection, arguing that the KakaoTalk messages included in the presentation materials were obtained without proper authorization. Thus, as per the defendant, the texts should not be considered as evidence.
ADOR refuted it by claiming that the messages were legally obtained and used in previous trials. Elaborating their concern, Min Hee Jin's team stated, 'What worries us most is that the presentation may contain message excerpts related to the disputed incident.' Additionally, her legal counsel also submitted a formal request for the trial to be held in a closed session, away from public scrutiny.
Court decision on Min Hee Jin's request
The 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court acknowledged the former ADOR CEO's concerns regarding the legal admissibility of the KakaoTalk messages, however they denied the second request of a closed session. The judge's ruling mentioned, 'We will proceed with a public hearing, but will restrict any discussion or display of the specific KakaoTalk excerpts the defendant contests until further review."
Upon hearing both parties' arguments, the court decided to hold a separate hearing on June 27 to assess the legitimacy of the KakaoTalk evidence.
About Min Hee Jin vs Source Music case
Min Hee Jin claimed in a press conference that HYBE initially planned to debut NewJeans as their first girl group but instead chose to launch LE SSERAFIM first. She also alleged that HYBE later limited NewJeans' promotional activities and favoured LE SSERAFIM. The dispute further involved Min Hee Jin's disagreements over the casting and training process for NewJeans with HYBE
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