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Court orders YouTuber to pay 30 million won to NewJeans for sexual harassment

Published: 11 Aug. 2025, 18:10

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

Girl group NewJeans members talk to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on March 7. [YONHAP]

A Seoul court has ordered a YouTuber who sexually harassed members of girl group NewJeans online to pay 30 million won ($21,600) in damages.

The Seoul Western District Court on June 25 partially ruled in favour of NewJeans, which had filed charges against the YouTuber surnamed Shin, the magazine Sisa Journal reported Monday. The ruling was finalized on July 22 after Shin did not file an appeal.

Shin was ordered to pay NewJeans' Haerin and Hyejin 7 million won each and 5 million won each to Minji, Hanni and Danielle.

Shin is accused of making comments about NewJeans while alluding to sexual acts in more than 20 videos uploaded to YouTube in 2024.

The YouTuber was also accused of sexually harassing underage group members in the comments.

ADOR, NewJeans' agency, filed criminal charges against Shin in June of last year and demanded 20 million won in damages to each member for a total of 1 billion won.

Girl group NewJeans members talk to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on March 7. [YONHAP]

NewJeans, or NJZ as the group members call themselves, has been on hiatus since March following a legal battle with ADOR.

In November 2024, NewJeans announced that their exclusive contract with agency ADOR had been terminated. The agency in turn filed a lawsuit to confirm the validity of the contract, along with injunction requests to maintain its status as the group’s agency and to bar the members from signing advertising deals.

An appeals court in March granted all of ADOR’s requests and ordered the members to pay 1 billion won in penalties for each independent activity carried out without the agency’s consent.

A mediation hearing for the contract validity lawsuit between NewJeans and ADOR is scheduled for Thursday.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]