BTS member V has addressed the use of his private KakaoTalk messages with former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin as evidence in an ongoing legal dispute.
On the morning of February 12, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Min Hee Jin in her first-trial legal battle with HYBE concerning the exercise of a put option under a shareholder agreement. The stock purchase claim right in question was reportedly valued at approximately 25.5 billion won (around $17.7 million).
On February 20, Sports Kyunghyang reported that, according to the first-trial judgment document in the shareholder agreement lawsuit between HYBE and Min Hee Jin, the court determined that Min Hee Jin’s suspicions alleging that ILLIT had copied NewJeans constituted a legitimate expression of opinion. During the proceedings, KakaoTalk conversations exchanged between V and Min Hee Jin were included as part of the submitted evidence.
According to the report, V had written to Min Hee Jin, “(About how plagiarism accusations always come up and are never absent) Yeah… I know, right. I also looked at it and thought, ‘Ah, this is similar…’”
Following the report, V personally responded via Instagram Story. Sharing a screenshot of the article, he stated, “This was part of a private, everyday conversation I shared out of empathy because she was an acquaintance of mine. I had absolutely no intention of taking either side. However, I feel very taken aback that this conversation was submitted as evidence without my consent.”
The legal dispute between HYBE and Min Hee Jin remains ongoing, with developments continuing to draw public and industry attention.
