On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of their debut, at exactly 0:00 on July 22 (Korean time), the girl group NewJeans suddenly announced video clips featuring 4 members Minji, Hanni, Haerin, Hyein.
The special clip was posted on the group's official YouTube channel without prior notice. This is the first time in 1 year and 4 months that NewJeans has released new content as a group.
In March last year, at the ComplexCon Hong Kong festival (China), the group once declared: "We will comply with the court's decision and temporarily suspend all activities", thereby officially announcing the cessation of operations.
NewJeans had a conflict with management company ADOR (under HYBE Group) after former CEO Min Hee Jin was dismissed. In November 2024, members held a press conference and announced the termination of their exclusive contract with ADOR.
However, in both the temporary order application and the official lawsuit, the court continuously issued rulings in favor of ADOR, thereby preventing members from conducting independent activities.
At the end of October last year, NewJeans officially lost the lawsuit in confirming the validity of the exclusive contract with ADOR. The court concluded: "The exclusive contract between ADOR and NewJeans signed on April 21, 2022 is still valid".
Then, in November of the same year, Haerin and Hyein returned to ADOR. A month later, Hanni also officially returned to the company.
Regarding Minji's case, ADOR previously said that the two sides are still discussing in a positive direction.
Meanwhile, the company announced the termination of the contract with member Danielle in December last year, saying that she must be primarily responsible for the rise of contract disputes between NewJeans and the company, as well as the members leaving and slowing back.
ADOR is conducting a lawsuit demanding compensation for damages worth 33.1 billion won against Danielle, her family and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin.
According to the Korean entertainment industry, NewJeans releasing content with all 4 current members through ADOR after more than a year is considered a positive sign showing that the group's activities may soon resume.
Besides, although ADOR has not officially announced the status of Minji, most viewers speculate that the female idol is also likely to return to the company and continue to operate as a member of NewJeans.
Not only releasing the video, ADOR also announced a commemorative photo set of NewJeans, with each member having 2 separate images, invested meticulously.
ADOR said: "This is a commemorative content made on the occasion of NewJeans' 4th anniversary of debut, to help members and fans share the joy on a special day.
The company added: "NewJeans' specific plans and operating methods will be announced after all discussions are completely over.
NewJeans officially debuted on July 22, 2022 with the MV for the song "Attention". The group quickly created a fever and continuously achieved success with hits such as "Hype Boy", "Ditto", "OMG" and "Super Shy", becoming one of the major phenomena of Kpop.
In August 2023, the second mini album "Get Up" helped NewJeans become the second Kpop girl group in history to reach number 1 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Since the Japanese single "Supernatural" was released in June 2024, the group has not yet released any new music products.
