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Min Hee Jin, 44, is founder and CEO of Ador, a sublabel of K-pop label Hybe. She is locked in a commercial and creative dispute with the parent company. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

LISA KIM, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- At 3 p.m. on a hot Saturday in June, a woman walked alone into an office building in Otemachi, a Tokyo business district. Unlike most well-known public figures, she brought no entourage to her interview. A Nike baseball cap pulled over her intentionally mussed hair, and sporting an oversized T-shirt, baggy Levi's jeans and black platform Crocs, she came armed only with a cellphone.

Min Hee Jin, 44, is founder and CEO of Ador, a sublabel of Hybe. The parent company is South Korea's largest entertainment agency by market value and the creator of BTS, a group synonymous with K-pop. Hybe invested 16 billion won ($11.6 million) in the sublabel and holds 80% stake in it. Min holds 18%.

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