What qualifies as “good promotion” these days?

This megathread is about the ongoing dispute within HYBE and the management of sub-label ADOR. Substantial news developments may be posted to the subreddit (outside of the Megathreads). Moderators will only approve posts that focus on statements by relevant parties, official representatives, or legal authorities. Unofficial commentary, fandom activities, speculation, or blind items will not be acceptable. Articles or translations should ideally be presented as neutrally as possible. Titles or content that are obviously sensationalized or intended to persuade readers to one perspective will be removed. English-speaking news outlets that have relatively more neutral reporting include Soompi, Yonhap News, and Korea JoongAng Daily. THIS POST MAY BE LOCKED OR UNLOCKED AT VARYING TIMES based on what the moderators are able to manage during their shifts. Please be patient with us while we work to balance keeping up with the queue and our own lives. DISCLAIMER ABOUT SOURCES: We prefer to focus on official statements from companies or other vetted sources. There will be widespread speculation and rumor-heavy articles, but until presented in an official capacity we consider them unsubstantiated. As Mods, all we can do is compile and summarize, but we are not investigators or journalists. Summary of Previous Megathreads ONE and TWO and THREE contains HYBE's audit of ADOR and Min Hee Jin's 1st press conference. FOUR summarized all events up to April 30th, 2024. FIVE and SIX contains potential ADOR embezzlement, MHJ's injunction and hearing, and a letter from the parents of NewJeans. SEVEN and EIGHT and NINE contains MHJ's injunction granted May 30th and remaining ADOR CEO, HYBE replacing ADOR board members, BELIFT LAB's video regarding plagiarism and lawsuit against MHJ. TEN and ELEVEN and TWELVE contains ex-ADOR employee's sexual harassment case, band Shakatak's plagiarism claim, HYBE 2.0 and ADOR restructuring with new CEO Kim Joo Young, MV director drama, the NewJeans livestream, MHJ's 2nd injunction filing and public events/interviews. THIRTEEN and FOURTEEN and FIFTEEN contains an interview with NewJeans' parents, Hanni and CEO Kim Joo Young at the National Assembly, MHJ's reappointment as director, Kim Taeho at the National Assembly, HYBE's Weekly Industry Report leak, the court's dismissal of MHJ's 2nd Injunction, ADOR board's vote against making MHJ's CEO again, NewJeans' certified letter of ultimatum to ADOR, rejection of Hanni's workplace bullying claim by labor ministry, MHJ's resignation from ADOR, and NewJeans' contract termination press conference. SIXTEEN and SEVENTEEN and EIGHTEEN contains ADOR's 26-page response to NewJeans' certified letter, Dispatch's exposé on MHJ's alleged strategy to leave HYBE, ADOR seeking validity of NewJeans member contracts, KMCA/KOSPO statements concerning tampering, the creation of the 'jeanzforfree' Instagram account, visa concerns, Employee B's MHJ defamation mediation failing, Davolink Chairman details, first hearings for Belift Lab and Source Music vs MHJ damages cases, dismissal of former ADOR VP's workplace harassment case against HYBE/ADOR, ADOR's injunction to halt NewJeans ad deals, and NewJeans rebranding to NJZ. MEGATHREAD NINETEEN covered mid-February to early March. Contains: Reports around Hanni's visa concerns and political involvement of National Assembly member Park Ji Won, NJZ parents establishing and posting to their PR Instagram account, the conclusion of three related allegations of 'workplace harassment' with no charges against HYBE/ADOR or ADOR CEO Kim Jooyoung, the joint press conference of 5 major industry organizations regarding tampering and contractual integrity, and the provisional injunction hearing for ADOR's complaint to restrict NJZ's music activities along with new ad deals until contract validity is determined. MEGATHREAD TWENTY covered the rest of March. Contains: The provisional injunction hearing and results two weeks later granting the injunction in ADOR's favor, NewJeans' activities at ComplexCon, NewJeans' filed objection to the injunction ruling and hearing set for early April, progress for Employee B, and general media/articles around the injunction results. MEGATHREAD TWENTY ONE covered all of April. Contains: HYBE's annual shareholders' meeting, the 1st hearing for confirmation of ADOR's contract validity with NewJeans, the hearing for NewJeans' objection to the injunction ruling and subsequent rejection of their objection by the judge one week later, and the 2nd hearing regarding shareholder agreement termination validity between HYBE and MHJ was designated to run jointly along with the case around exercising put/call options. Articles / Timeline 250422 This day marks one year since HYBE launched their audit of Min Hee Jin and ADOR's management. Happy(?) 1st anniversary of the Megathreads! 250502 The 3rd hearing for Min Hee Jin vs. Belift Lab was set to take place but postponed to July 18th at Belift Lab's request. Each side is due to present their arguments/documents regarding plagiarism issues at the next meeting. (Source: Maeil Kyungjae) 250530 We learned that ADOR had filed for 'indirect enforcement' after their injunction was granted and NewJeans performed at ComplexCon back in March (Filed on April 4th according to the statement from NewJeans' representatives linked below). On the 30th, the 52nd Division of the Seoul Central District court further granted this request. The 'indirect enforcement' ruling means that each individual member of NewJeans will be fined 1 billion won (approx. $725,000) if they continue with entertainment activities independent of ADOR, which would be in violation of the injunction. This enforcement with potential fines does NOT apply to any of NewJeans' independent activities between the granting of the injunction and the granting of this 'indirect enforcement'. These fines will only apply to future activities going forward, or at least until rulings with NewJeans' appeal or the main contract validity case changes anything (next hearing on June 5th). (Source: Chosun Biz, MK Sports) The Korea Herald: Court orders NewJeans to pay Ador 1 billion won for each unauthorized activity Discussion Post Korea JoongAng Daily: Court orders NewJeans members to pay ADOR $725,600 for every independent entertainment activity A statement by NewJeans' representatives was made later in the day primarily acknowledging the indirect enforcement ruling, but reiterating that it is temporary and will no longer have an effect if NewJeans win their appeal of the injunction. (Source: Ilgan Sports) The 2nd hearing for Source Music's damages lawsuit against Min Hee Jin took place at the 12th Civil Affairs Division of the Seoul Western District Court. (Quick recap: 1st was January 10th, 2nd was previously scheduled for March 14th, postponed per Source Music's request). Legal representatives were present. Source Music had a 20-minute presentation prepared, but Min Hee Jin's representatives objected to the inclusion of KakaoTalk messages in the presentation. They claimed the messages were illegally obtained and requested the hearing to be closed/private. Source Music denied the messages were obtained illegally, claiming they were gained from company devices with consent. The court went with a temporary compromise to keep the hearing public, but not allow discussion/display of the messages until they were reviewed again. A special hearing to review the messages will take place June 27th. (Source: Sports Today) 250605 The Seoul Central District Court Division 41 held the second hearing for ADOR seeking confirmation of validity for their exclusive contract with NewJeans. Only legal representatives were in attendance. NewJeans' side primarily argued that ADOR had not met their obligations and that their evidence they were preparing to support NewJeans' activities, like finding a new producer, was inadequate. ADOR's side argued that NewJeans' reasons for allegedly terminating their contract continually changed, indicating they are arbitrary and being made up with retroactive hindsight. The issue of some evidence being collected illegally also came up again from NewJeans' side. Judge Jung Hoe-Il specifically inquired if both/either sides were willing to come to an agreement, encouraging them to do so. NewJeans' representatives strongly indicated this was unlikely as the trust in ADOR had completely collapsed. ADOR's representatives indicated they could see negotiating an agreement once the court comes to a final decision. The 3rd hearing was set for July 24th. (Sources: X Sport News, Maeil Kyungjae) 250612 The next hearing regarding the Shareholder Agreement termination and exercising put/call options lawsuits between HYBE and Min Hee Jin was held at the Seoul Central District Court's 31st Division. Arguments from each side mostly re-tread what we've already covered. HYBE's side argued they were justified in ending the shareholder agreement due to the threat Min Hee Jin posed to the company. Min Hee Hin's side argued the timing of the audit/termination did not align purely with that concern and that some KakaoTalk messages and emails were obtained illegally and not admissable as evidence. HYBE also indicated they had a witness to give testimony at the next meeting, which the court accepted. The next hearing with closing arguments, was set for September 11th for both lawsuits. (Sources: Maeil Kyungjae, TV Daily, Sports Today) 250617 Following up from April 16th when NewJeans appealed the court's decision to uphold the injunction and halt on their independent activities, the Seoul High Court reaffirmed the earlier decision. The court rejected NewJeans' appeal. They determined there was no significant change in the material/arguments presented for the appeal and the original decision to grant ADOR's injunction was justified. There was further clarification that the management conflict between HYBE and Min Hee Jin, and her no longer being NewJeans' producer, did not constitute a valid argument for the alleged collapse of trust between ADOR and NewJeans. The group's withdrawal from ADOR is considered arbitrary, that their artistic freedom or activity is not impeded since they are able to do so within their exclusive contract, and that any damages resulting from attempting independent activities are self-inflicted. (Sources: Yonhap News, NewsPim, News 1) The Korea Herald: K-pop High Court rejects NewJeans appeal, upholding ban on independent activities Post Soompi: Seoul High Court Denies NewJeans' Appeal Of Injunction Decision Looking Ahead: June 27: Special hearing for Source Music vs. MHJ to review KakaoTalk messages as evidence July 18: 3rd hearing for Belift Lab vs. MHJ (postponed from May 2nd) July 24: 3rd hearing for ADOR seeking confirmation of validity for their exclusive contract with NewJeans September 11: Next hearing regarding the Shareholder Agreement termination and exercising put/call options lawsuits between HYBE and Min Hee Jin Ongoing Legal Complaints/Investigations: HYBE's report to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) regarding potential insider trading by ADOR management (Korea JoongAng) HYBE's complaint against Min Hee Jin for 'breach of trust' (Yonhap) Belift Lab's complaint against Min Hee Jin for defamation (Soompi) and additionally for business interference (The Korea Herald) SOURCE MUSIC's lawsuit against Min Hee Jin for damages in regards to the disruption of business/defamation of LE SSERAFIM (Korea JoongAng) and additionally regarding alleged false claims by MHJ for the launch strategy of N Team/NewJeans (Soompi) British band Shakatak's plagiarism claim against NewJeans' 'Bubble Gum' (Yonhap) Min Hee Jin and HYBE executives filed reports against each other back-to-back (Soompi and Korea JoongAng) Former ADOR Employee 'B' filed complaint against MHJ in relation to sexual harassment cover-up and workplace mistreatment. (JTBC) MV Director Shin Woo Seok filed a lawsuit against ADOR CEO Kim Joo Young and ADOR VP Lee Do Kyung for defamation. (Korea JoongAng) MHJ's lawsuits against Belift Lab's Kim Tae Ho for defamation (Yonhap), HYBE CCO Park Tae Hee and PR Director Cho for breach of duty (Yonhap), and HYBE executives and Dispatch reporters for defamation. (Soompi) (One or both of these might be re-statements of earlier suits.) ADOR's lawsuit to determine validity of their contracts with NewJeans (Soompi) Link back to MEGATHREADS 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 GROUND RULES IN COMMENTS If you have come to this subreddit to discuss anything, you are choosing to participate in a moderated space with rules of conduct enforced by human beings. All users are subject to the discretion of moderators to manage this space even if it's in ways you don't agree with. Do not Insult users, fans, or artists. Don't denigrate a certain demographic of people (age, gender, nationality, etc). NO harassing, threatening, or wishing harm on anyone. Do not incite fanwars, reference old tribal resentments between different fandoms, or assume the worst of fellow users. Do not bring wild conspiracies from somewhere else on social media that have no clear or substantiated sources. Do not accuse other users of being a bot or paid shill. Do not abuse the report button. We report any form of report abuse directly to Reddit Admin. Refrain from linking to or discussing other subreddits. Do not encourage brigading in any way. Allow other subreddits and their mods to run their communities how they see fit. DO mention your sources and any use of AI/machine translation tools for quoting Korean articles. DO take care to link sources responsibly. Seek information sources which are reasonably neutral and are not affiliated with accounts known to insult or hate artists. Keep in mind that Allkpop, TheQoo, PannChoa and similar sites are banned in this subreddit. THE MODS KNOW there will be bots, trolls, bad actors, and oblivious new users coming to the subreddit. We will do what we can to mitigate the impact of them. But you alone are responsible for your own behavior. Express your opinion or arguments without breaking our conduct rules or we will be obligated to remove your comments. submitted by /u/KPOP_MOD [link] [comments]

Ew trump. I do not support any misogynistic, white nationalist, incel, hitler-like (esp. Musk), racists at all and neither does this sub and apparently neither does reddit as a site as a whole. He stands against everything Kpop stands for which is an art form from a formerly colonized people from a country that is rising up against colonialism and hatred. Anyone who comments anything negative to this, or tries to defend that orange guy will be banned permanently. Go somewhere else, we don't want your lower kind here. This is why American women everywhere are going 4b EDIT!!!: 4B 4B4B4B4B4B!! 4B IN THE SOUTH, 4B IN THE NORTH, 4B FROM TEXAS TO ALABAMA, FROM BYU TO COLOMBIA! 4B ALL FIFTY STATES! A CONVICTED PEDO AND FELON IS NOW PRESIDENT SO IF YOU'RE A WOMAN WITH ANY SELF RESPECT 4B, 4B, 4b (ESPCIALLY THE CONSERVATIVES!!!!) submitted by /u/Kpop_Love_Forever [link] [comments]

Hey folks! Over in r/kpop we just posted a new special Town Hall that is focused only on the Flairs we use to help organize our posts based on content categories. Link to r/kpop's 'All About Flairs' Town Hall We included announcements for new flairs here on r/kpoppers and also on r/kpophelp. The following is the section relevant for this subreddit. NEW FLAIRS! Connect - This flair will be used for anything where fans are trying to socially connect with each other. Announcing new K-Pop subreddits or Discords, looking for mutual fans on social media, wanting to meet up at a concert, seeking fans in a region to form a dance group, networking for a fan project, announcing a K-Pop night at a club, etc. Research - Academic surveys related to K-Pop or fandom topics. We'll keep an eye on these new flairs to see if they create any confusion or need adjustments. Let us know if you have any thoughts, concerns, or questions! submitted by /u/alleybetwixt [link] [comments]

The subreddit is mostly uncensored as long as people follow the rules. Generalizing statement about Korea, Korean society, etc or most other countries are not acceptable except under the following standards: The only claims that are acceptable when generalizing Korean society in this sub are those that bring up generalizable stastical claims by the standards of the international statistics institute. Not only do the vast majority of stastistics you can find on the internet about Korea not up to this minimum, basic standard but this requirement includes having ample sample size, blocking by relevant demographics and sometimes even double blind tests. So if you make a generalizing claim, your wording must be properly formatted and links to the relevant studies provided. In other words, the standard for making a generalization is very high in this sub. Not to mention the wording for your claim has to be properly made. Anyone who has taken a college level statistics class will know what I am talking about and we may even require you to provide the confidence level interval if it's relevant for your study. If you cannot meet these standards, I would just avoid doing it in general. submitted by /u/Kpop_Love_Forever [link] [comments]

One thing that's always bothered me about K-pop (and a lot of pop music in general) is that the singers usually don't write the songs, or even get a say in the process. Are there any K-pop groups out there where the members write a lot of the songs, or participate more in production, etc.? submitted by /u/_specialcharacter [link] [comments]

I try not to spam my reactions here but I really enjoy this song and want others to know about it ❤️ submitted by /u/DdogPlaysGames [link] [comments]

I would say Jimin and Jungkook from BTS! V and Jin are the official visuals though. Also Soyeon from G-Idle. She's genuinely so attractive I was actually shocked when I found out she wasn't the main visual. Han from Stray Kids too. submitted by /u/Sea-Republic8892 [link] [comments]

This has almost every group/song ive listened to and enjoyed! It hasnt been updated a lot in a while, but anyways! Go for it! submitted by /u/Jjong_Hariibo [link] [comments]

I genuinely don’t understand how xlov is gender neutral(understand being the operative word). Like I love me some xlov music and I’ve been with Wumuti since day 1, but I don’t get their concept. It honestly seems like they are trying to portray a specific gender, so I don’t get really get the “neutral” part. This is mostly a terminology thing and not me having a problem with their concept, I look at them and I don’t see gender neutrality, I see femininity, which, imo, is far from neutral. I guess I just have a very different of what gender neutrality would look like, anyways, I’m def open to corrections and yall’s 2cents submitted by /u/Mobile-Structure5702 [link] [comments]

I was doing research for a PowerPoint I was making on what defines 5th Gen boy groups (if anyone is curious send me a message I’ll let you know when it’s done) and in my hunt to find a list of 4th Gen Boy Groups (I am looking at data from both to help define the difference) I ended up on the Wikipedia page for South Korean Boy Bands and found that there was no category for 5th Gen and they had all up until now had been included as 4th Gen. This confused me as I thought that the consensus is that we are in 5th Gen and that it started in 2023 so I thought to do a poll to check the waters. I’ve made a simple poll on what seems to be the two main opinions but if people have opinions outside this please comment them below and explain why. View Poll submitted by /u/ARG_obesessed [link] [comments]

It feels like soloists have played a much bigger part in Kpop this year compared to previous years. submitted by /u/randomnarwhalaccount [link] [comments]

Just in the last 3 - 4 months we've had mischaracterized or completely fabricated stories make the rounds on k-pop Reddit. From people falling for the story stating orphans were forced to support Jimin for food to everyone bringing out their pitchforks on Ju Haknyeon. There was also the huge mix-up about BabyMonster's Asa where people convinced themselves she didn't graduate elementary school and RESCENE's company having to take legal action because people fell for edited clips and fear mongering. Even the members speaking up in defense of themselves didn't stop calls for boycotting at the time. Even today, thousands of people (assuming all upvotes and comments are from real people) fell for this news on Kep1er when even two seconds of research would've shown this headline to obviously be false. And I'm sure there's been more fake stuff that blew up on k-pop Reddit recently. Matter of fact, I know there is, but considering the topic, I figure I shouldn't reference them if I don't have tangible proof (damn you, deleted threads). And of course during controversy, misinfo is even worse. The truth is, Reddit is an aggregation of news from all other sites, so the info and misinfo that spreads on other sites also comes here. It's a bit easier to combat it with the convenient hyperlink feature, but by the time the truth starts getting out, the false info is firmly cemented and taken as fact. Even when explanations, proof, or accurate translations are provided, it isn't always guaranteed that people will accept the truth. So yeah, make sure your prove things to yourself first before you believe what you see on here. There's fake stuff all over the place and just because it's Reddit, you're not any less likely to be tricked by misinformation than on other sites. Be open to being wrong if your find out you initially fell for something. It happens to the best of us. submitted by /u/SageSageofSages [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/reverseharam [link] [comments]

Over the last little bit I couldn't help but be genuinely curious if this is a normal reaction and feeling after seeing one of your top ever faves in concert. Last year after some convincing I was able to attend OnlyOneOf's concert in Vancouver where I bought two VVIP tickets (as I had to have a parent come with me due to never being to that city before), and it was one of the best experiences ever. Despite my anxiety and forgetting my Korean lines when meeting KB and Junji at the fansign table where they signed my albums, they were really kind and re assuring, often standing that its okay and people can be nervous at their first concerts. Then, I was lucky enough to get to the barricade, where I took fancams, pictures, etc. It was one of my favourite moments, especially my Mum commenting on the members kindness and professionalism as someone who doesn't know Kpop at all. To say the least, I didn't know Jisung (Love) who left OOO, I only knew them as six members but I still cherish them deeply. I wrote a lot of articles around this time promoting them and their music. But I couldn't help but notice, I haven't listened to Kpop as much since then, and I haven't listened to some of my favourite OOO songs for a long time. But I can also realize my views on kpop and how I consume it has been changing over the last couple months. I was just curious overall if other people have had this experience as well. submitted by /u/Responsible-Box2876 [link] [comments]

I hate how much people trust idols so much. I keep seeing people make posts like "'not all men' you're right ___ would never" and it's like how do you know? You have zero and I mean ZERO proof that they're that amazing and sweet off camera. You don't realize this is exactly what Nct fans thought?? They thought Taeil was perfect and all of a sudden oh wow he's horrible. You don't know any of your idols. Stop acting like they're an angel sent from heaven. Pissing me off submitted by /u/wumutiluvv [link] [comments]

I understand that fans don’t want to see their fave group dragged into a plagiarism debate, and honestly, it’s fair to say this falls on the company, not the artists themselves. No one’s saying ATEEZ invented fight scenes, gun shots or stylised poses, obviously not. But when you look at the footage side by side, it’s hard to ignore how similar some of the filming choices actually are. And if you’re about to comment “ATEEZ aren’t big enough…” maybe just scroll on! Video Credit: @/enayisiolmusuz submitted by /u/Sophisticated-Mess [link] [comments]

Disclaimer - Please read the whole thing out before lashing out in the comments, thank you. So, Twice in the big 2025. Despite releasing a solid body of work this year — three albums in total — they’re barely charting, either domestically or internationally (aside from the two KDH tracks). They’re even struggling to sell out arenas, while 4th and 5th gen groups are easily surpassing them on charts and in numbers. Seriously, where did their fandom go? They used to be considered one of the bigger ones, right? Considering how big they were just a year or two ago, you’d expect them to be charting higher and pulling stronger numbers. They performed at Lollapalooza too, right? That was actually really good — one of the best sets at Lolla in recent years, in my opinion. I really enjoyed the two albums they released this year, aside from the Japanese one. The R&B elements in those tracks especially were fire. What is it then? Releasing music too often, or the fans have transitioned to other artists? From my perspective, they should’ve capitalized on the KDH hype more effectively. Honestly, it’s not on the girls — it’s more about how JYP mapped things out. The strategy just doesn’t feel efficient. JYP should’ve pushed them onto shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Jennifer Hudson Show, and other platforms that could’ve helped them reach a wider audience. And I know people would say, “but they don’t have an avid english speaker.” Yea but we have seen many non-english speaking artists go on these TV shows right? There’s still time for them to turn things around, but of course, if JYP does it right. They should at least send the KDH sub-unit to one of those major U.S. shows to maximize their visibility. submitted by /u/Daddy1007a [link] [comments]

Day 52 Results: MAMAMOO wins by 74 votes! Vote for your favorite and as always poll closes in 24 hours! If you're unsure of who to vote for, here's a couple songs to help your decision: IVE - HEYA IVE - Accendio IVE - KOKZ T-ARA - NUMBER NINE T-ARA - You drive me crazy T-ARA - So Crazy First Half Second Half Disclaimer: This tournament is not a “comparison”. The seeds were randomized and I didn’t pick the matchups. The songs picked are amongst their most popular because they’re easy to recognize. If you have another song suggestion you may leave it in the comments but please refrain from complaining about the song not being included. I also try to switch up the listed songs every new round, so the songs you might not know from a group might not be listed as they were listed the previous round. Either way, feel free to recommend them in the comments if you’d like. submitted by /u/PushOffTheGround [link] [comments]