Ador vows no leniency for NewJeans defamers: 'No settlement, no mercy'

Ador has issued an official statement after malicious online posts targeting girl group NewJeans crossed what the agency called an unacceptable line.

On Sunday, Ador announced through a community platform that it had taken legal action against the authors of harmful posts.

"As we announced in December last year, we determined that the severity and spread of malicious comments targeting our artists had reached a serious level," the statement read. "We deployed additional external monitoring personnel to collect harmful posts across all channels, request their removal and secure evidence. Based on the cases identified through this process, we have submitted complaints to investigative authorities against the authors of malicious posts on numerous domestic and international online communities and social media platforms."

Ador added that in a separate complaint filed in the second half of last year, one commenter each on Naver News and FM Korea had already received a deferred prosecution with a mandatory education condition, while investigations into the remaining subjects were ongoing.

"Regarding deepfake crimes targeting our artists, we are pursuing every available legal measure without exception — no settlement, no leniency," the statement continued. "Investigative authorities and the courts have recognized the gravity of deepfake crimes and are handing down severe sentences. In one related case, a defendant sentenced to three years in prison last year recently filed an appeal, but the high court dismissed it in full. In another case currently in its first trial, we received a request to confirm our willingness to settle — we refused and made clear our intent to seek the harshest possible punishment."