[2/19] NJZ News (*Long Update Warning*)

[RussianRoulette]

Howdy Howdy

I am finally home from my trip. I will post about the concert later, but for now here is the rest of today's NJZ news.

This is a continuation of what happened earlier today with the entertainment association's joint statement.
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Bang Si Hyuk

It has been reported that a complex con official (complex con is the March performance in Hong Kong NJZ has coming up) has said that Hybe's CEO BSH/Bang PD has been calling his connections in the United States to get NJZ's performance canceled.

For some side info: Last time I was aware BSH has been living in the US for awhile now? He doesn't seem to live in Korea anymore? I could be wrong (he could have moved back to Korea and no one knows) but last time anyone was aware he bought the house right next to Beyonce's house (they are neighbors now???) and pretty much just lived in the US now claiming to want to handle business here???

(I'm 99% certain he's in the US to hide from something but I can't for the life of me remember what it was he was avoiding. It was allegations for something? Not for a crime, but for something )

*SUDDEN UPDATE AS I AM LITERALLY TYPING THIS OUT*

Apparently BSH is coming back to Korea briefly for the first time in ages.

He's apparently applied to be a part of the Korea Economic Association and is flying back to attend his first meeting. He's either applying on behalf of Hybe or to represent Hybe.

This is being talked about online because there's apparently another new person joining who is from Dunamu(???) which is apparently a company MHJ was accused of doing insider trading with last year early on in all of this drama.

Kakao and Naver are also apparently joining the organization.

The article also expressed that they were concerned how the executive board of the organization will change now that all of these new companies are joining.

Source

NJZ Parents Statement

The NJZ's parents have released a new statement addressing BSH trying to stop their complex con performance and the joint statement made by the entertainment associations.

Its very VERY long so I will be breaking it up into parts to make the reading easier for everyone.

Translation from Koreaboo
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This morning, we saw that five organizations — Korea Entertainment Management Association (KEMA), Korea Entertainment Producers Association (KEPA), Korea Music Label Industry Association (LIAK), Korea Record Industry Association (RIAK), and Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) — issued their statement to the media.

Despite having full knowledge that neither the preliminary injunction nor the trial has begun, they are making statements that undermine the objectivity of the trial by presenting unconfirmed information as facts. This is truly regrettable. As always, we ask for your understanding in advance that this may be a lengthy message, since there are few channels the artist can use to express their positions compared to companies who can freely use major media outlets and various associations.​

1
The five organizations have claimed that the NJZ members are attempting to resolve a private dispute by involving public opinion and unilateral statements rather than holding negotiations or through legal procedures. However, we believe the public surely will remember which side first started a media campaign, publicly spreading false allegations to remove former ADOR CEO (Min Hee Jin), who was simply trying to address the major issues within HYBE. At the time, HYBE both purposely created and turned a blind eye to the plethora of articles related to the accusations of “tampering” or “gaslighting” about NJZ. We believe everyone will also remember the media frenzy that started less than one week before their comeback. This is something no company would do just one week before their artists’ comeback. We would like to ask where these music organizations were and what they were doing at that time.​

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2
The five music organizations also claimed that the entire K-Pop industry is suffering due to the private dispute that unilaterally became public, turning into a controversy. However, we believe the victims of this one-sided media coverage are the NJZ members, their fans, and the public who loves music. The damage still continues today. Furthermore, HYBE’s stock price decline and other damages are their problem, not the entire K-Pop industry’s. This confirms these organizations are representing the interests of a specific company while presenting themselves as an organization for all.​

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3
The five music organizations claim that baseless allegations can be accepted as truths without proper fact-checking, chance for rebuttal, or criticism and thus can take over portal sites, online communities, and social media for a long time. This is the only section of their statement that is actually correct. Numerous false statements about the NJZ members have taken over online communities and even now, the media publishes articles that reflect HYBE’s interests. At the same time, Cyber Wrecker channels are spreading their opinions as if they were the experts. It is heartbreaking to see how the celebrities themselves cannot stop this or defend themselves. We believe this is the lethargy regarding these music organizations that many involved in the entertainment industry, artists, trainees, and their families notice.​

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4
The five organizations have criticized the NJZ members for proceeding with their individual activities despite not having their exclusive contract with ADOR legally terminated. They argued that if such contracts can be broken unilaterally, the entire foundation of the K-Pop industry would collapse. However, we believe this claim is misleading and is only to deceive the public. From the family’s perspective, as people who have watched over their children since they were all minors and trainees, we must emphasize that there has never been an organization or venue for trainees and artists to voice their complaints and seek protection when they face mistreatment or the company breaches the contract. These people have no choice but to solely rely on the company’s morality and thus are in a situation where their basic rights aren’t protected. From the members’ viewpoint, it is contradictory for these organizations to take sides and argue about the potential instability of the industry when in reality they advocate for company profits. The members have mustered the courage to speak up and take legal action despite the difficult situation. We urge the organizations to reflect on their inconsistencies.​

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5
As many people know, HYBE has publicly discriminated against, attacked, and tried to take down the NJZ members while ADOR, a HYBE subsidiary, had neither the will nor capability to prevent this from happening. In fact, as we have seen in the situation regarding Dolphiners Films, they even went as far as tryuing to take down the base of NewJeans’ career, their content. As a result, NJZ were left with no other choice but to terminate their contracts as they could no longer endure what was happening to them. Legally, the contract termination goes into effect immediately, meaning their contracts with ADOR no longer exist. Therefore, the members were no longer bound to ADOR and were free to pursue their own activities. This is a simple principle of Korea’s legal system. The fact that HYBE and ADOR are now pushing for legislative amendments right before the trial clearly demonstrates both how unreasonable and unconvincing their claims are. The statement shared by the five organizations today also raises concern that they are not only trying to excessively restrict the individual rights of artists but also are trying to find ways to impose an invisible form of legalized violence. Their claims make it sound like the entire K-Pop industry would collapse if contracts are not enforced like slave contracts.

The fundamental issue of this dispute is between an agency that mistreated its artist and the artist themselves. It does not impact the entire K-Pop industry. In fact, we believe the members’ courage can set a new precedent for a healthier industry filled with a more diverse range of artists. It is with great regret that these organizations frame initial investments as a form of debt and take a one-sided stance on that issue. Trainees dedicated their youth and life to the life of an artist. The concept of good faith is something that should apply to both parties in a contract, not just one. We hope this situation will serve as an opportunity for young artists and trainees, who should be spending their brightest years pursuing their dreams, and their fans to no longer feel they have to be victim to the exploitation while certain people avoid their responsibilities to pursue personal interests.​

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6
While we were forming our response, a journalist approached us with new information. The five organizations did not just release this statement. They are also planning a press conference for Thursday, February 27 at the JW Marriott Hotel and inviting many journalists. We were told that they were even offered lunch. Given that lunch at the hotel costs at least ₩100,000 KRW (about $69.40 USD) per person, we couldn’t help but wonder if the journalists would be able to attend without violating the Kim Young Ran Act [an anti-bribery law that states public officials such as journalists cannot accept gifts worth over ₩50,000 KRW (about $34.70 USD).] We also question whether such a bold attempt to try to influence the media is even possible. These five organizations didn’t just release their statement in the morning, but also again with the exact same content at 1pm. What is the point of sending out the same statement twice in a day without any modifications? Isn’t this just media manipulation? We respectfully ask that these five organizations stop trying to sway public opinion by representing the interests of a particular company, which they stated through their statements. For the sustainable growth of the K-Pop industry, it is critical to correct the mistakes made by agencies that see their artists solely as money-making tools. This is an issue that should be resolved through legal procedures.​

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7
Not long ago, we heard from a ComplexCon official who had been assisting with the concert preparations that HYBE’s Bang Si Hyuk personally called his industry contacts to pressure them to cancel NJZ’s appearance at the event. Would it be too much of a stretch to connect today’s statement to that? We find it incredibly infuriating and angering. It made us realize how HYBE continues to see NJZ as money-makers rather than supporting and celebrating their successes. They are focused on blocking them and destroying them instead. Since then, we have been told that ADOR has also been working to interfere with NJZ. Bang Si Hyuk, back in April 2024 we sent you an email and requested a response. To this day, you have not replied. If you have so much to say, why not speak with us instead of other people? We also fail to understand why the Chairman of HYBE is directly getting involved in a dispute that supposedly only involves ADOR. Can we really believe you when you argue that ADOR and HYBE are separate entities?​

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NJZ are scheduled to perform at ComplexCon in Hong Kong. They are excited to finally showcase themselves in a new light to their fans after leaving the environment created by HYBE and ADOR. Despite the multiple attempts to stop them, their performance will proceed as planned so we kindly ask for your continued support.

Thank you for taking the time to read this long message and as always, we sincerely apologize for the concern caused. We wish everyone a warm day.​

Instagram Source

Ador Statement

After the NJZ parents released their statement, Ador of course released their own brief statement on the situation.

Ador was also accused of trying to stop the complex con performance as well.
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Adore has never encouraged New Jeans to cancel their Hong Kong concert. We have also confirmed that Chairman Bang Si Hyuk has never contacted us in any way regarding the New Jeans concert in Hong Kong. Ador requested the organizers to use the official team name 'New Jeans' as they had requested to the domestic media, and to hold the concert through Ador based on the exclusive contract.​

Article Source​

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I am tired AF from this concert and the hours upon hours of driving it took to get there and back

If I have time before work I will be trying to post another news roundup tomorrow because I feel like it was quiet for days and now that I was gone for 2 days suddenly a whole bunch of kpop news has dropped at once

I also want to shout out that I think it's nice that the NJZ parents always end their posts with "have a warm day" because it's winter. It's a nice touch.​

 

[UMJI MOODS]

(I'm 99% certain he's in the US to hide from something but I can't for the life of me remember what it w as he was avoiding. It was allegations for something? Not for a crime, but for something

It may be a crime but it is uncertain right now.

He along with three equity companies he was working with and still borrows from are being investigated by the Financial Services Supervisor who is South Korea’s financial regulator. During the initial public offering of hybe stock it immediately listed for double the original suggested price. The equity companies and bsh then sold large blocks of stock at the inflated price and made large profits. The initial investors who paid double the amount and didn't know about the deal lost a lot of money as the stock fell to the original price. It took a long time to regain value so some may have been forced to sell at a huge financial loss. The question is was that "secret" agreement against the law or not? So an ongoing investigation is looking into the legality. The ethics and morality of this are definitely questionable on the personal level.

Additionally for fans it appears bts did not profit from this and like regular investors saw their contractually guaranteed stocks devalued.

People who have even some stock market knowledge can read a deeper more detailed analysis here.

 

[SirTim0thy]

I also want to shout out that I think it's nice that the NJZ parents always end their posts with "have a warm day" because it's winter. It's a nice touch.​

Love this and how it is similar to my own standard farewell "stay warm!"


BTW welcome back! I look forward to hearing about your concert experience~

 

[Your Biggest Fan]

I'm 99% certain he's in the US to hide from something but I can't for the life of me remember what it was he was avoiding. It was allegations for something? Not for a crime, but for something

This I'm interested in.

 

[RussianRoulette]

This I'm interested in.

Me too. Is you told me 5-10 years ago BSH would be fleeing the country to avoid jail time I would have called you crazy.

Money really does change people

If you told me 5-10 years ago BSH would be neighbors with Beyoncé I’d probably call you crazy too.