NewJeans (newjeans_official) has expressed that they may be willing to return to ADOR—if the label is restored to how it was before HYBE took control. On July 24, the third hearing was held in the civil suit filed by ADOR to confirm the validity of NewJeans’ exclusive contracts. ADOR once again claimed that Min Hee-jin was behind the group’s notice of contract termination. They insisted that the label had fulfilled all of its key management responsibilities, and that there had been no breakdown in trust. ADOR emphasized that staff are still preparing a new album in hopes of NewJeans returning. They also argued that NewJeans’ claim—that Min Hee-jin stepping down as producer nullifies their contract—has no legal grounds, saying it can‘t be considered a “core premise” of the exclusive agreement. NewJeans’ legal team countered by pointing to HYBE’s audit of ADOR in April 2023 as the root cause of the dispute. “HYBE launched the audit with the goal of ousting Min Hee-jin from ADOR,” the...