Two members of NewJeans, Hyein and Haerin, will return to their record label Ador, the agency has announced, in a move that has led fans to question whether the K-pop group will now split up.

NewJeans has been locked in a legal battle with Ador, since the five-member group announced last year that they were leaving the agency because of mistreatment and manipulation. Ador has denied these claims.

Last month, a South Korean court ruled that NewJeans’s contract with Ador – which runs until 2029 – remains valid. NewJeans said it would appeal.

The dispute has rocked the K-pop industry, where record labels typically exercise strict control over their artists.

Ador is a subsidiary label of Hybe, South Korea’s biggest music label behind chart-topping groups such as BTS.

In a statement on X, Ador wrote that Hyein and Haerin had decided to “respect the court’s latest ruling” after “thoughtful consideration with their respective families and thorough discussions with ADOR”.

“We request the warm support from the fans and respectfully urge you to avoid engaging in unfounded speculation regarding the members,” the statement said.

Plans for the other three members – Hanni, Danielle and Minji – are unclear.

NewJeans’s legal representative declined to comment when contacted by the BBC.

Formed in July 2022, NewJeans, whose members are aged from 17 to 21, had a dramatic fallout with their agency in 2024.

It was sparked by the controversial dismissal of Ador CEO Min Hee-jin, who had also been NewJeans’s mentor.

NewJeans then accused Ador of “mistreatment” and “deliberate miscommunications and manipulation”, and set out several demands including the reinstatement of Min.

When those demands were not met the five members declared they were leaving Ador, which in turn initiated a lawsuit to prevent them from departing.

NewJeans’ argument was ultimately rejected by the court, in a ruling delivered two weeks ago.

After that ruling, NewJeans’s lawyer said that the trust between the group and their management had been “completely ruined” and that the group would continue its fight.

While NewJeans had pledged to appeal the ruling, legal experts generally agreed that they would have very little chance of winning, given how clearly the court had sided with Ador.

The deadline for filing the appeal is the end of Wednesday. It is unclear if NewJeans has filed anything yet.

Fans have expressed worries that the latest move would spell the end of NewJeans in its current configuration.

“If only two out of five members continue their contracts and the rest end things like this, that’s basically a disbandment,” one person wrote on X.

“It’s too hard for an individual to fight a big company,” wrote another. “I just like the NewJeans girls … I’ll still support them.”

Since its debut, NewJeans had been poised for a meteoric rise, scoring early chart-toppers.

Their first single Attention topped Korean charts while their hit song SuperShy made multiple “best of the year” lists at the end of 2023, including those compiled by Rolling Stone, NME and Billboard Magazine.

But their drawn-out legal battle has forced them into a hiatus.

When NewJeans rebranded themselves NJZ and tried to release a new song, their activities were halted by a court injunction initiated by Ador.

Additional reporting by Hosu Lee.