BTS creator Bang Si-Hyuk sues ex-ADOR head Min: Here's why
What's the story
Bang Si-Hyuk, the chairman of HYBE and the creator of boy band BTS, has filed a lawsuit against Min Hee-Jin, the former CEO of ADOR. The legal action is over an unpaid loan of KRW 4.2 billion (approximately $3 million), which was allegedly borrowed by Min from Bang in 2023 to buy shares in ADOR. The case has now become a formal civil lawsuit after Min objected to a court-issued payment order. Here are the details.
Court action
Details of the court proceedings
The Seoul Western District Court issued a payment order in May, after Bang sought repayment of the loan in April.
However, Min filed an objection in July, which led to the case being processed as a formal civil lawsuit.
The matter was then transferred to the Seoul Central District Court as per their loan agreement.
Loan specifics
The financial dispute dates back to March 2023
The financial dispute dates back to March 2023, when Min bought 573,160 shares in ADOR from HYBE for around KRW 3.738 billion ($2.79 million).
Bang allegedly lent Min this money for the purchase.
The current lawsuit seeks approximately KRW 4.2106 billion, KRW 510.6 million (around $380,500) more than the original loan amount, reportedly calculated at an annual interest rate of 4.6% over three years.
Previous ruling
Min previously won a lawsuit against HYBE
This lawsuit comes months after Min won a separate put option case against HYBE.
This gave Min the right to sell her shares back to HYBE at a set price.
The court had ordered HYBE to pay her around KRW 25.595 billion ($19.07 million) for her shares.
Following this, she proposed resolving the wider dispute by relinquishing her rights for the amount in exchange for ending the civil and criminal proceedings.
However, HYBE appealed the first-instance decisions in both cases.