On June 5, 2024, it was reported that HYBE had applied for a restriction on access to the trial records of their recent court trial with ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, held on May 25, 2024. In South Korea, court case trial records are made public after a period of time unless the involved parties apply for restrictions on access.

According to the legal community, HYBE applied for the restriction on June 4, asking to restrict the records of the trial, including items such as HYBE’s written answers and various evidence materials. Restrictions are usually granted when important secrets about the party’s personal lives are written in the litigation records and when the party’s trade secrets are involved in the records. The court will decide if the application gets passed or not.

It was reported that HYBE applied for the restriction based on the evidence that Min Hee Jin submitted in the lawsuit, which includes KakaoTalk screenshots, as well as the contract for shareholders that was signed between HYBE and Min Hee Jin. They cite the contract as part of trade secrets, and quote that the KakaoTalk screenshots are of private conversations held between individuals, including third parties not involved in the court case.

However, HYBE already disclosed some of the KakaoTalk screenshots to the media during the feud with Min Hee Jin. This can include Min Hee Jin’s chats with her shaman friend, who is a third party to the court case. Hence, legal authorities have deduced that it will be hard for the court to grant HYBE’s application because HYBE revealed a portion to the media before the court trial.

Netizens are shaming the company for their appeal.

• Them revealing the KakaoTalks to YouTubers was too significant. Even though both parties used traditional media for their mediaplay, using YouTubers known for their negative virality was crossing a line.
• It’s all already been spread anyway LOL.
• They’re so pathetic, through and through. After they used YouTubers to spread the KakaoTalk chats already LOL.
• Idiots LOL. Aren’t the chats all already online? They were f*cking taking hits at Min Hee Jin using KakaoTalk chats as their only evidence, and now they want to put restrictions on the chats.
• ?? Huh?
• What are they doing LOL.
• As expected of people who came from the gaming industry…

Previously, HYBE was accused of using YouTubers known for their negative virality to reveal Min Hee Jin’s private KakaoTalk chats. This was prominent especially after they seemed to be losing their court case when the court dismissed their evidence on claims that they lacked legality.