A recent court decision has effectively blocked former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin from returning to her position. Under the current law, a company’s board of directors is in charge of appointing its CEO, but the Seoul Central District Court recently dismissed Min’s injunction request to be reinstated as ADOR CEO.
The court also rejected Min’s claims that if the board of directors refused to reinstate her as CEO, they should be removed and replaced to enforce compliance. Min argued that according to the shareholder agreement she signed with HYBE, ADOR’s parent company, HYBE promised to guarantee her CEO term unless she breached the contract. She holds that since the agreement remains valid, HYBE and ADOR’s board of directors should reappoint Min to her position.
Both parties are currently engaged in litigation over the termination of the shareholder agreement. Since the CEO appointment process is separate from the validity of the shareholder agreement, experts suggest that the court’s ruling on the injunction has effectively blocked Min’s legal path to reinstatement as CEO.
The court ruled that even if HYBE instructed the board to support Min’s return, ADOR’s board members are not legally bound to comply and are instead responsible for independently assessing the merits of any proposal. Without support from the board, Min’s path back to ADOR remains blocked.
