“Plastic surgery at their own expense, voices used even after the contract ends” ... A look at contracts NewJeans signed when they were 14 to 17

[Financial News] As controversy continues over the treatment of underage trainees in the K-pop industry, foreign media have reported that the exclusive contracts NewJeans members signed as minors lacked provisions to protect them.
According to the U.S.-based New York Times (NYT), on the 5th (local time), the five NewJeans members signed exclusive contracts with ADOR, a HYBE subsidiary label, in 2022 when they were between 14 and 17. The NYT obtained the contracts and reviewed them with five legal experts.
The NYT reported that the contracts restrict artists’ rights more broadly than the government’s standard exclusive-contract template. Attorney No Jong-eon, an entertainment law specialist who took part in the review, described them as “an unusually aggressive contract.”
The standard contract guarantees underage entertainers’ physical and mental health, right to education, and rights to sleep and rest, and bars requirements for excessive exposure or long hours of work. The NewJeans contracts reportedly did not include these provisions.
The contracts included clauses prohibiting “an insincere attitude,” “neglect of self-management” and “inappropriate romantic relationships,” among other things.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the NYT reported that the members often practiced until 2 a.m. when they were trainees, and that four of the five left school.
The contracts also made the members bear beauty-related expenses. They required the members to reimburse a substantial portion of the costs the company had incurred during their trainee years for plastic surgery, skin care and body shaping.
Two people associated with the group reportedly told the NYT that the agency had encouraged some members to undergo cosmetic procedures before their debut.
The method for calculating contractual penalties also differed from the standard contract. The standard contract multiplies average monthly revenue by the remaining contract period, while the NewJeans contracts counted only months in which revenue was generated. The NYT noted that this method could increase the penalties.
The contracts also included a clause allowing ADOR to continue using the members’ names, likenesses and voices, or to authorize third parties to use them, even after the contracts end in 2029.
This also covered voice cloning using artificial intelligence (AI) and the creation of chatbots. However, the clause’s legal enforceability was reportedly unclear.
The NYT also reported that the contract terms were effectively non-negotiable. In January 2022, when the mother of one member requested changes to the contract, an ADOR vice president reportedly replied to the effect that it might be better to reconsider the contract itself.
HYBE said it complies with laws concerning the protection of minors and that the standard contract is a guideline with no legal force. It also said the members’ parents agreed to changes to the contract provisions.
HYBE’s position is that it never forced the members to quit school or encouraged them to undergo plastic surgery or other procedures against their wishes. On the contractual penalties, it countered that there was no difference in the amount actually calculated, since the members generated revenue every month.
NewJeans declared that it was terminating its exclusive contracts in November 2024, and the following March, a court granted ADOR’s request for an injunction barring the members from pursuing independent activities. Last December, ADOR terminated its exclusive contract with member Danielle June Marsh.
The NYT said that despite years of promises of reform and government intervention, there had been little change even in the contracts of NewJeans, one of the most successful groups.
[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter