Lee Jaesang, CEO of South Korean entertainment company HYBE, who took over the role from Park Jiwon earlier this summer, has issued a public apology regarding an internal document that contains disparaging notes on various K-pop groups and idols. As noted by The Korea Times, HYBE's "Weekly Music Industry Report" was brought to light in an audit carried out by South Korea's National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee on October 24. Parts of it have since been leaked online.
On October 29, CEO Lee issued a statement, which can be found on HYBE's press site in Korean, apologizing for the report, which the company refers to as a "monitoring document." Lee began the statement by apologizing to "the artists, industry stakeholders, and fans," according to a translation provided by a HYBE representative.
In the statement, Lee said the document was never meant to reach the masses, as it was "intended to be shared only with a limited number of leaders to understand market and fan sentiments" but added that "the content was highly inappropriate." The document included "provocative and explicit expressions directed at K-pop artists," according to Lee.
"As the representative of the company, I acknowledge all the mistakes and take full responsibility," Lee wrote. "I am particularly sorry and distressed about the unfounded suspicions of reverse viral marketing that are not true at all, causing misunderstandings and harm to innocent artists and individuals."
Lee's note continued with a formal apology to "the external artists mentioned in the document who have suffered damage and distress” and said HYBE would reach out "to each agency individually to offer our apologies directly" as well. In the statement, Lee also apologized to all HYBE artists and promised that no more "monitoring documents" of this nature would be created in the future.
Lee's apology comes at a busy legal time for HYBE. The same day the statement was issued, the Seoul Central District Court reportedly denied Min Heejin's request to be reinstated as CEO of HYBE subsidiary ADOR. Back in August, it was announced that Min would be stepping down from the role of CEO, with Kim Juyoung taking over.
In September, the members of NewJeans, currently ADOR's only group, held a surprise livestream calling for Min to be reinstated as CEO. A few days later, as noted by Soompi, Min filed an injunction seeking her reappointment as both an internal director and the CEO of the company. Soompi reported that Min was reappointed as an internal director on October 17 after a shareholders' meeting; however, the Korean court dismissed her request to return as CEO on October 29.
HYBE celebrated the court's recent ruling in a statement: "We acknowledge and appreciate the court's wise ruling. In light of this decision, HYBE is dedicated to normalizing ADOR's operations, improving our multi-label capabilities, and supporting the activities of our artists."
Following the court ruling, as noted by The Korea Herald, Min did an interview on music critic Kim Youngdae’s YouTube channel and said she was still determined to be reinstated as CEO. Min said she was “committed to taking this as far as it can go.”
