Lawyer Highlights HYBE’s Illegal Activities and Warns Executives of Possible Criminal Charges

During a June 7th episode of the YouTube channel “Inheritance Unboxing,”Noh Jong-eon, CEO of the law firm Jonjae, stated that many lawyers had expected Min Hee-jin’s injunction against HYBE to be denied. However, their prediction proved to be incorrect.

He further stated, “The court’s ruling stated that it was challenging to prove that there were no justifiable reasons for Min Hee-jin’s dismissal. As a result, HYBE was obligated to ensure her employment unless there were extenuating circumstances, thus burdening them with proving her violation of trust. This decision is justifiable as proving the absence of grounds is nearly impossible.”

Lawyer Noh Jong-eon clarified the court’s statement that “even if Min Hee-jin’s actions could be viewed as betrayal towards HYBE.”According to Noh, the issue at hand is not whether she deliberately breached trust, but rather there was insufficient evidence to prove such a breach occurred.

The individual emphasized that the term “betrayal”is not a legal term, stating that it refers to an action that breaches a trust relationship rather than an official label given by the court.

Additionally, he highlighted that the court recognized the validity of Min Hee-jin’s allegations of discrimination at NewJeans and the issue of album pushing within the agency. He noted, “The actions taken by HYBE against Min Hee-jin occurred first, causing damage to the trust between them.”

In addition, lawyer Noh Jong-eon also brought up the matter of HYBE making public the KakaoTalk conversations with the shaman. He stated, “HYBE alleged during an audit that Min Hee-jin had revealed numerous business secrets through numerous KakaoTalk messages, which sparked a lot of discussion.”

He reiterated, “Min Hee-jin did not give her consent for HYBE to use her personal KakaoTalk data. HYBE does not possess the authority to give comprehensive consent for Min Hee-jin’s private conversations.”

The lawyer expressed disappointment in the court’s decision to not recognize the submitted KakaoTalk content as business secrets or admissible evidence, stating that this was likely disheartening for HYBE.

The CEO stressed that releasing all of Min Hee-jin’s KakaoTalk conversations to the media would be a violation of the CEO’s independence in managing the company. This matter raises concerns about private surveillance and civilian monitoring, which are prohibited by the constitution. The constitution upholds the values of freedom of communication and privacy as essential rights.

Lawyer Noh Jong-eon contended that leaking the KakaoTalk conversations to the media is a grave violation of both the law and the contract. It can be inferred from the injunction ruling that HYBE has indeed breached the contract.

According to a legal expert who preferred not to be named, the release of Min Hee-jin’s personal KakaoTalk chats with the shaman by HYBE without her consent may be considered a breach of the Communication Secret Protection Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. This could result in criminal consequences.