Belift Lab's ₩2B Suit Against Min Hee-jin Heads Toward Verdict After Two More Hearings

Two Hearings Left — and ₩2 Billion on the Line

The plaintiff is Belift Lab, a HYBE subsidiary label. The defendant is Min Hee-jin, who once led ADOR under the same HYBE umbrella as its chief executive. The claim stands at ₩2 billion. According to NoCut News reporting from the May 30 hearing, the court indicated it would schedule two additional pleading dates before closing arguments — a procedural signal that effectively marks the approach of a first-instance verdict. Any remaining written submissions and, if necessary, witness examinations are to be concluded within those two sessions.

This litigation represents a rare instance in the K-pop industry of two label-level executives from under the same parent company facing each other in a civil courtroom. The central dispute compresses to a single sentence: whether Min Hee-jin's public statement — that ILLIT, Belift Lab's first girl group, had copied the concept of NewJeans — constitutes defamation and interference with business.

"Merely an Opinion" vs. "Enormous Harm"

Min Hee-jin's legal team maintained its established position at the May 30 hearing. The statement in question, they argued, was an expression of personal subjective opinion and therefore falls within the protected scope of free expression. The defense held that it does not meet the threshold for citing specific false facts — a prerequisite for civil defamation or obstruction of business claims.

Belift Lab's position was diametrically opposed. The label argued that a chief executive of a sister label under the same parent company deploying the word "copy" against a newly debuted rookie group in a public setting was not mere opinion but "enormous harm." NoCut News's May 30 report noted that both sides retained these two phrases as the defining keywords throughout the session.

"Merely an opinion" — Min Hee-jin's legal team, May 30 hearing "Enormous harm" — Belift Lab's legal team, May 30 hearing

Where the Statement Was Made

The statement at issue was made by Min Hee-jin at an emergency press conference she convened on April 25, 2024, in her capacity as ADOR CEO. The conference was held immediately after her management dispute with HYBE became public, and it ran for approximately two hours. At that event, Min stated that ILLIT's debut concept, visuals, and choreographic direction had followed the template established by NewJeans.

ILLIT is Belift Lab's first girl group, which launched on March 25, 2024, with the debut EP SUPER REAL ME. The word "copy" was thus put on public record by a fellow HYBE subsidiary's chief executive just one month after the group's debut — a timeline that is not incidental to Belift Lab's decision to make that single statement the foundation of its damages claim.

The HYBE — ADOR — Belift Lab Triangle

Placed in its industry context, the structure of this case is unambiguous: beneath parent company HYBE, the executive lines of two labels — ADOR and Belift Lab — are seated across from each other in a civil court over one statement. Min Hee-jin was successively removed from her roles as CEO and inside director of ADOR as the management dispute intensified through 2024, and ADOR subsequently transitioned to new leadership.

Over that same period, Belift Lab continued ILLIT's promotional cycle following the debut EP and into subsequent releases. In that sense, this first-instance trial functions less as an active corporate confrontation and more as a reckoning — one in which both parties' internal positions have been settled, leaving only the civil liability attached to the statement itself. Because this is a standalone civil damages track rather than a criminal complaint, the two axes that will define the first-instance outcome are recognition of liability and the quantum of any damages awarded.

What Must Be Resolved in Two Sessions

The court's scheduling of two additional hearing dates constitutes a procedural signal that remaining written submissions, evidence, and any necessary witness examinations will be completed within that window. Once arguments close, a separate sentencing date is typically designated after a standard interval, at which point the court will deliver one of three conclusions: full approval of the ₩2 billion claim, partial approval, or full dismissal. As of May 30, the specific dates for the remaining hearings had not been made public.

Neither Belift Lab nor Min Hee-jin's side issued any additional statement following the May 30 session. Whether either party appeals will be determined by their respective choices after the first-instance ruling is handed down, at which point a separate second-instance track would commence. The standard civil first-instance sequence runs through three stages: close of arguments, designation of a sentencing date, and sentencing.

The Reckoning Ahead

Two hearings remain. Within those two sessions, the degree to which "merely an opinion" and "enormous harm" can be translated into the language of civil law will be determined. The first-instance sentencing date will be designated separately, following the close of arguments.