On September 29, some Kpop idols such as Jennie (Blackpink), Minnie (G)I-DLE, Hyein (NewJeans) flew from Korea to France to prepare to attend Paris Fashion Week.
But NewJeans fans discovered that Newsen was the only Korean newspaper that reported on Hyein at Incheon International Airport. While other newspapers such as Osen, Herald POP, MHN Sports, Top Star News, STAR News, TV Daily still reported fully on Jennie and Minnie.
Usually, Korean stars attending Paris Fashion Week or having important overseas schedules are almost always informed in advance, and will be photographed and reported by many newspapers at the airport.
Because appearing at the airport is like a form of promotion for the brand they are ambassadors or models for. This time, Hyein will attend the Louis Vuitton show as an ambassador.
This is a rare occasion where a member of a famous Kpop girl group is only reported by one newspaper.
Fans expressed their displeasure and speculated about the reason. On the online community Instiz, many opinions said that Hyein was being shunned because HYBE Group manipulated the media to suppress the group NewJeans.
Others suspect that the information that Hyein was at the airport was not reported to the media.
Recently, the conflict between Min Hee Jin - former CEO of ADOR (NewJeans management company) and HYBE Group as well as Chairman Bang Si Hyuk continues to escalate.
In an interview with JoongAng Ilbo on September 26 and a speech at the Hyundai Card Da Vinci Motel event on September 27, Min Hee Jin made many accusations against HYBE.
Min Hee Jin said that HYBE offered to pay her in May on the condition that she leave the company. In addition, Min Hee Jin criticized HYBE's internal audit conducted with ADOR in April as an illegal audit based on impulsiveness and false information.
The former CEO also accused HYBE of downplaying NewJeans' performance in Japan and providing information with defamatory content about Min Hee Jin to foreign media.
However, HYBE denied everything Min Hee Jin said.
At her speech the next day, Min Hee Jin revealed that she had spent 2.3 billion won in legal fees on lawsuits related to HYBE, and expressed her determination to win this battle.
Previously, on September 11, 5 NewJeans members including Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein held a surprise livestream, asking HYBE to bring Min Hee Jin back to the position of CEO ADOR before September 25.
It was shocking that a girl group that had only been active for 2 years would directly compete with a major entertainment company. Fans were worried about the future of NewJeans, as up until now, the female idols seemed to be steadfast in their support of former CEO Min Hee Jin.
