Min Hee-jin Offers to Waive $17.9M Payout if HYBE Drops All Lawsuits in Ongoing Dispute

 

The escalating dispute between Min Hee-jin and HYBE has reached a pivotal juncture. After months of litigation that has entangled executives, artists, and corporate stakeholders, Min has introduced a proposal that seeks to reset the battlefield entirely.

Rather than prolong courtroom hostilities, she is offering a comprehensive settlement framework. The core of her proposal is straightforward but financially significant. She is prepared to relinquish the 25.6 billion won put option payment, equivalent to approximately 17.9 million US dollars, awarded to her following a recent court ruling in her favor. In exchange, she wants HYBE to withdraw all pending civil and criminal cases connected to the dispute, including those involving members of NewJeans and related parties.

This is not merely a financial concession. It is a strategic repositioning. By offering to surrender a substantial payout, Min reframes the conflict from a monetary contest into an institutional reckoning. Her stance suggests that the longer the dispute persists, the greater the collateral damage to artists and to the broader Korean entertainment sector. In highly visible industries, prolonged legal warfare functions like a public audit of instability. Investors hesitate. Creative output slows. Artists face reputational strain.

Min’s argument rests on the premise that cultural production thrives on stability, not subpoenas. She has urged HYBE and its chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, to redirect their attention away from litigation and back toward artistic development. The symbolism is deliberate. Courtrooms represent confrontation; stages represent creation. The industry, she implies, must choose which arena it wants to dominate.

Importantly, Min has also clarified her own trajectory. She signaled her intention to fully relinquish her former leadership identity at ADOR and concentrate on steering Ooak Records. This declaration serves two purposes. It distances her from ongoing corporate tensions at her former company, and it asserts continuity in her role as a producer and executive shaping new projects.

At its core, the proposal is a trade. Financial entitlement in exchange for institutional closure. Whether HYBE accepts this framework will determine whether the dispute concludes as a negotiated ceasefire or evolves into a prolonged corporate saga. The decision now rests on whether both sides see greater value in finality than in continued litigation.