[Issue Plus] Newzins "Cancellation of Contract" vs. Adore "Effective"... Inevitable Litigation?

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Ha Jae-geun, cultural critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News PLUS] when quoting.

[Anchor]
Attention is focused on future activities as Newzins said it is terminating its exclusive contract with Adore effective today. On the other hand, foreign media are also interested in Jung Woo-sung, who has been embroiled in a controversy over his private life after acknowledging his extramarital status. Let's point out the related content with cultural critic Ha Jae-geun. Welcome. Newzins had a press conference yesterday. Let's hear your voice briefly and start talking. Yesterday, we told you that we will hold an emergency press conference as a breaking news at this news time. But I heard it was prepared in secret enough to remind you of Operation 007.

[Ha Jae-geun]
The news was made around 8:30 p.m. yesterday at the press conference, and before that, he suddenly announced that he was doing this about 3 hours ago. It's reported that the members of Newzins asked for a press conference. Yesterday, the agency was Audor, but today, he insists it's not. Anyway, I have to do a press conference without knowing the agency. There are reports that they said this, too. So, it is known that we literally held an emergency press conference in 007 without the agency's knowledge.

[Anchor]
Newzins unilaterally declared the termination of the exclusive contract, saying that the previous request for correction was not accepted. What was in the requirement?

[Ha Jae-geun]
So, there has been a lot of controversy over what Newzins asked for. With the disclosure of Adore's answers to the requirements this time, it was clear what the requirements were this time, but there were eight requirements. Among them, let's take out New and make a new edition. Wasn't he trying to throw away Newzins, what happened, action was the first argument, and I was told to ignore me that Hani claimed, apologized from the manager, took action, etc. Then there were photos and videos used without the consent of Newzins, and what stood out was these demands for the return of former CEO Min Hee-jin.

[Anchor]
Does New Ar mean New Jeans and Le Seraphim?

[Ha Jae-geun]
The Anra Newzins side claimed that among the three girl groups of Newzins, Irish, and Le Seraphim Hive, they were trying to abandon Newzins and throw out Newzins, but the answer from Adore this time was, "That's a misunderstanding," which came out like this. It's not baby eyelet. It's called I.V. It's a girl group from another company. So, let's talk about Newzins among the Hive girl groups. It's not about that, but when LeSeraphim was involved with Newzins, they suffered a lot of damage in their image. Let's separate Newzins and LeSeraphim based on their image. So, LeSeraphim was a promotional strategy to throw away Newzins and promote LeSeraphim by combining other singers, including I.V. and others, except for Newzins, LeSeraphim. I explained like this, but the mysterious part of what some media are reporting is that Min Hee-jin was one of the recipients of the document that

Then, didn't Min Hee-jin know in advance that the New Ar's remarks are not about abandoning New Jin's? But why didn't Min correct the New Jins' claim of New Ar's remarks as the first justification for termination of the contract? Questions about that are being raised by some media, and this fact remains to be seen later. Anyway, it feels like Adore is almost kneeling and hanging on to various demands, from New Jeans. At the same time, we didn't do anything wrong, and we're feeling frustrated and sad. We asked to meet, but we didn't meet, but let's meet and talk from now on. The contract is not over, and we're going to keep it, because we're doing it like this. At the same time, he replied that he did everything he could to other demands, but the only thing he refused was to return to former CEO Min Hee-jin, which is our management matter. That's the only situation I've rejected right now.

[Anchor]
Does Audor claim that it has nothing to do with the exclusive contract right now?

[Ha Jae-geun]
If we accept it as a condition for an exclusive contract, we like this person as our representative for other idols. If you ask this person to represent you, you have to listen to everything. So, since there is such confusion, I think we need to find out a little more about whether this was rejected.

[Anchor]
What's unique now is that the members of Newzins said at the press conference yesterday, "We will end our exclusive contract at midnight." I said this, but Audor said no. What's right about this?

[Ha Jae-geun]
So it became a very strange situation. Newzins means breaking the contract. Then, usually, I think I'll have to file a lawsuit in this case, but he said that the contract was over and said he wouldn't file a lawsuit. Then it's maintaining the status quo. And he said that he'll be able to handle his schedule. There's no change. Audor also said that we will not file a lawsuit, and the contract will be maintained. Then, there was a press conference to break the contract, but nothing else changed except for that, but it is a kind of lull, stalemate, and will it be maintained for the time being while just digesting the schedule. It became a bit of a unique situation.

[Anchor]
But this won't be able to go like this forever. Why aren't they filing a lawsuit now? What kind of strategy is this?

[Ha Jae-geun]
I didn't know that. So, Newzins, this superstar made a declaration with a press conference on such a sensitive issue, but there's nothing to do with instant emotions, right? Wouldn't everyone have received legal review and expert advice? But I don't understand why they suddenly say they're breaking the contract and not filing a lawsuit, but there's no choice but to make all kinds of speculation. I think it's possible to guess this, but I think I can't win just by filing a lawsuit, so I just declared it in words and said that Newzins was encouraged by CEO Min Hee-jin. So last time, CEO Min Hee-jin pressed Hive with a single press conference, receiving tremendous public support. So, this time, filing a lawsuit will be hard to beat, so there may be speculations about whether he is trying to pressure Hive through a public opinion battle through a press conference without filing a lawsuit, but since I'm not an insider, I don't know the inside story, so I think we should judge what Newzins is thinking now through future actions.

[Anchor]
In the past, if idol group members wanted to isolate themselves from the agency, there was something legally settled by filing a lawsuit.

[Ha Jae-geun]
Basically, I filed a lawsuit to break the contract. In the past, members of TVXQ JYJ filed a lawsuit against SM and the members won. And Loona Chu also filed a lawsuit from her agency and won. In the past, there was a story that the court in Korea was sympathetic to idols and celebrities, but recently, the members of PFTP filed a lawsuit against the agency, and unexpectedly, the court sided with the agency. Therefore, no matter how much the celebrity claims to have been treated unfairly, there are speculations that the court may side with the agency, not with the celebrity, if there is no clear reason, and that the case of PFTP may not be able to sue prematurely.

[Anchor]
The industry estimated that the penalty that Newzins has to pay to the agency would be close to 500 to 600 billion won, but yesterday, Newzins said that they didn't do anything wrong, so they didn't have to pay any penalty.

[Ha Jae-geun]
That's a bit of a mystery, but the agency had to do a tremendous mistake in order for the agency to usually have to release it without paying a penalty. As I said earlier, I should have done something big, such as human rights violations and making them work without paying, but I'm not sure if there's anything wrong that the members of Newzins are claiming right now. Under such circumstances, will it be possible to break this contract without paying a penalty? There's a question, so let's see if it's possible for us to be free. For example, if you come into contact with another company and such a thing happens, will Audor be just watching? In general, we file a penalty lawsuit when that happens. Now, Adore said he wouldn't file a lawsuit and that the contract would be maintained, but if he filed a penalty lawsuit later, Newzins would not pay our penalty, I can't just say that, and what we have to do then is that we have been treated unfairly by Adore and Hive this much, but I think Newzins will have to provide some evidence, not just a press conference.

[Anchor]
Yesterday, the members of New Jin's said they wanted to continue working with CEO Min Hee-jin, but what would be the possibility and issue of actually getting out of the door and forming a different label with CEO Min Hee-jin?

[Ha Jae-geun]
So if you want to do so, you have to break the existing contract and do whatever you want, the contract must eventually be terminated legally. Therefore, in order to legally end it, it is not only a declaration, but also all the penalty issues must be resolved. If the court decides that you have to pay a penalty, you can go and pay a penalty and do whatever you want because you are free. The penalty is also a penalty, but at this stage, what kind of collective action does Newzins meet with CEO Min Hee-jin as soon as they leave after breaking the existing ad-door contract? Then you might suspect that this behavior itself was a conspiracy with Min Hee-jin. Then CEO Min Hee-jin seems to have to have a legal dispute with Hive for a considerable period of time from now on, but there is a possibility that former CEO Min Hee-jin may be at a disadvantage in the process, if there is a circumstantial evidence that such a plot was made. We will have to wait and see if we will go out right away and do group activities with CEO Min Hee-jin.
[Anchor]
If I go out now, will I be able to keep using the name Newzins, and is there a different interpretation of this? They said they'd use it.

[Ha Jae-geun]
I said I would use my name, but the owner of that name is now Odor and Hive. So, Newzins itself is the asset of Hive, the parent company, at Adore. That's why it's up to Adore or Hive to decide whether to release Newzins or not to give up the right to the name Newzins. It's up to Adore or Hive to use the name. Will Adore just release it all smoothly and be so nice to use it? I don't usually do that. It's common practice to try to protect names, such as filing a lawsuit. That's why if you don't go through the litigation process, wouldn't it be easy to use the name Newzins? It seems that way, but quite a lot of people are wondering what kind of legal plans you have in the future.

[Anchor]
Wasn't every song that Newzins released during their two-year career a hit? Then where can't NU'EST members sing those songs?

[Ha Jae-geun]
That's right. Everything is the property of Adore or Hive. That's why you have to agree with the door for each and every step of the release process, and there is usually a process such as a penalty or other payment in the settlement process. However, since the problem with Newzins is that they are superstars, huge amounts of money can come and go with each such agreement process. As people say that the penalty alone could be hundreds of billions of dollars, will it be possible to agree on the way money is coming and going in a normal way? There's a question mark about that now.

[Anchor]
What I'm curious about now is how do the general public, entertainment, and broadcasting industries look at it, not the fans of Newzins?

[Ha Jae-geun]
Ordinary people, I don't know that. So, when this case first broke out, then CEO Min Hee-jin thought of taking New Jeans and setting up a different house. That's how the suspicion was raised at first. So, public opinion turned badly to Min Hee-jin, and as public opinion was overturned in one shot at the press conference at the time of Min Hee-jin, people supported Min Hee-jin and supported New Jin's. After that, the situation has changed a little bit, but it seems that there is still a lot of controversy and it seems a little mixed up that it is difficult to say which side is more dominant.

[Anchor]
Let's also look at the next topic. Foreign media are also paying attention to this controversy about Jung Woo-sung?

[Ha Jae-geun]
The BBC in England reported on Jung Woo-sung, and the foreign press sees Korea as a very conservative society. So the BBC said that Korea is naturally conservative and especially strict about celebrities. Such characteristics of society arose again this time in the controversy over Jung Woo-sung's extramarital affair. Jung Woo-sung's unmarried childbirth is like this because I don't think it'll be this controversial if it's their country. As Korea's characteristics have been revealed again this time, the controversy over unmarried childbirth is expanding beyond just the entertainment industry to the national debate, in Korea. It is said that the foreign media looked at it like that.

[Anchor]
Jung Woo-sung, the Blue Dragon Film Festival will be held today, so I don't think it's known whether you're here or not.

[Ha Jae-geun]
Jung Woo-sung's agency said he couldn't confirm it. Even if it's my position, I think I'll be really worried. So of course you want to attend the film awards. I want to attend, but the problem is that my personal problem has become very controversial recently and the media is almost going to ask me that question, so if you do that, it could damage this movie because of me. But until two days ago, public opinion was very high. It's boiling, but I think it's dying down a little in a day or two. So, is this a situation where I can attend? Am I still a hot potato? There seems to be a lot of worries right now that there may be a lot of mixed feelings about that.

[Anchor]
But it's held at 8:30 p.m., so it's less than 2 hours away, and it's hard to check before the award ceremony starts. Isn't it unusual to say this?

[Ha Jae-geun]
I don't think there's any, even in my memory. In such a tight situation, the position is likely to come out, but I think the Blue Dragon Film Awards are telling us to keep coming. Now that it's done, he won't come. It could have been faster if he had done this. Jung Woo-sung is such an important person that the movie industry tells him to keep coming, even if he tries too hard, and I think we'll keep the door open until the end, so I think he's struggling until the end. Perhaps internally, we have already concluded whether we will attend or not, but we can't reveal it to the outside, but I think we will know whether we will attend or not if we watch it a little later.

[Anchor]
Let's stop here today. Ha Jae-geun was a cultural critic. Thank you.