Mr Lim believes Ador would be pressured to recruit new members into the group, especially if Minji also leaves the label.
It is hard for three-member groups to find success in the K-pop industry, where fans pay keen attention to the relationships and chemistry between individual members.
Marsh’s future as a musician will also be uncertain. “Not only will there be a large part of the public that see her negatively [because of this controversy], but the record labels will too… She might need to pursue being a solo act as an actor, model, or an influencer,” Mr Lim said.
NewJeans, whose members are now aged from 17 to 21, have delivered remarkable success since they debuted in July 2022. A year on, they were the eighth biggest-selling act in the world, with critics calling their blend of 1990s R&B and sugar-coated pop melodies a “game-changer”.
But in 2024, the group had a dramatic fallout with their agency – sparked by the controversial dismissal of Ador’s former CEO Min, whom the group regarded as a mentor.
NewJeans accused Ador of “mistreatment” and “deliberate miscommunications and manipulation”, then announced they would leave the agency.
Ador in turn launched a lawsuit to block the group’s departure, which it won in October – with a district court ruling that NewJeans must honour their contract with the label which runs until 2029.
Additional reporting by Leehyun Choi in Seoul