The Korea Music Copyright Association (KMCA) has accused NewJeans of a "lack of business understanding" as the group faces a contract dispute with the entertainment agency HYBE and its subsidiary, ADOR.
In December, the non-profit copyright collective for musical works expressed concerns about former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, accusing the label head of "tampering," or poaching, NewJeans.
The association threatened to remove the group's music from national charts, including the Circle Chart.
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In a recent report from TV Daily, a KMCA representative reprimanded the girl group for announcing their conflicts with their company in a press conference, accusing them of "having a negative influence on the youth."
"Conflicts are bound to arise when conducting business, and they can resolve the issue through lawsuits, but making it public and holding a press conference has no positive effect on the artists' images or the K-pop market," they said.
Additionally, the representative revealed fears that public sentiment will dictate and hinder the investment market in the K-pop industry.
"If contracts are terminated by notice, who will invest in the K-pop market? In the long term, there are no investors who will healthily invest in an industry with such great instability," they said.
"We have decided to take a strong stance because the measures that can be taken right now are an appeal for the industry to make self-reflective efforts."
Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin faced additional allegations of poaching when Davolink CEO Park Jung Kyu revealed that Min had approached him with an investment idea involving the group.
"We talked for three hours about investment and strategies to secure NewJeans," he said.
Min Hee Jin was accused by her employer of attempting to take control of the company in April 2024, with HYBE claiming that her removal as ADOR's CEO was due to her involvement with a third-party investor.
The KMCA representative expressed worries that the recent influx of suspected tampering cases is a result of "a phenomenon that occurs as large capital flows in," and felt that "the 'New Jeans incident' is ultimately a money issue."
"Currently, New Jeans seems to have a strong desire to protect those who have emotional intimacy with them rather than business logic. It seems that the company treated someone who worked with them unfairly and that they need to protect them," they added.
"As time passes and the members become adults (when their understanding of business increases), they will look at the situation from a different perspective than now and realize that the response was a clear problem. However, that is not the case now. It seems that emotional intimacy is greater."
In the long term, the representative warned that increased cases of alleged "tampering" within the K-pop industry would "decrease investment."
