A South Korean court ruled on Thursday against popular K-pop group NewJeans, whose members had sought to cut contractual ties with their label ADOR over what they called “mistreatment” by the agency.

The five-member girl group made headlines in November by announcing the decision to leave ADOR, whose parent company HYBE is also behind K-pop sensation BTS.

The label then filed for an injunction, requesting the court to prohibit the group’s members from engaging in independent commercial activities and allowing it to remain NewJeans’ managing agency.

The Seoul Central District Court in Thursday’s decision, its second in favour of ADOR, rejected NewJeans’ claims that mistreatment had led to the “irreparable breakdown of trust”.

“The court accepted all positions of the agency, keeping its

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