Min Hee-jin filed a defamation case against two reporters from entertainment media outlet Dispatch, as well as HYBE's ex-CEO Park Ji-won and HYBE PR chief Park Tae-hee, her legal representation Shin & Kim said Monday.

Min reported the ex-CEO and PR chief for "using illegally collected private conversations to form a negative opinion about Min" and two Dispatch reporters, Kim Ji-ho and Park Hye-jin, for "writing false stories even though they were fully aware of HYBE's intentions," according to Min's attorney.


"Kim Ji-ho and Park Hye-jin, even today, wrote an article that is far from the truth," Shin & Kim said in a press release. "They wrote their article based on a one-sided story without verifying the facts. We hope that this police report will uncover their serious lies and that they are held liable."

Dispatch reported Monday that Min had been manipulating NewJeans members to break free from HYBE, and that she even "tried to seduce" executives at HYBE in the past to achieve her goals.

The report again used Min's private online conversations with peers, one of which included a conversation Min had with the parent of a NewJeans member.

Min called NewJeans "disgusting" and "unworthy of being called artists" for "just looking at the mirror and thinking only about dancing" in December last year, according to the Dispatch report.

The Dispatch report came four days after NewJeans members announced on Thursday night that they ended their exclusive contracts with ADOR. ADOR refuted the members' claims, arguing that the contracts still stand.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]