On March 15, chairman Bang Si Hyuk of HYBE Corporation attended a forum hosted by Kwanhun Club, where he gave a lecture titled "The Future of K-Pop". 

Afterward, the businessman and producer held a Q&A session with the press, where he personally opened up about the recent developments surrounding the acquisition of SM Entertainment.

Bang Si Hyuk first revealed that HYBE initially made offers on two occasions in 2019 to acquire SM Entertainment, as a part of the corporation's future vision and growth. Then in 2020, the potential to acquire SM Entertainment arose once again, but without tangible results. 

Fast forward to 2023, and Bang Si Hyuk suddenly receives a call from his sunbae producer Lee Soo Man. Regarding this exchange, Bang Si Hyuk recalled, "I was under the impression that the acquisition would be relatively peaceful. So the events which followed, from the overheating of the market to the fierce 'acquisition battle', as it has been termed, were all completely outside of my expectations."

On HYBE's decision to ultimately pull back from the full acquisition of SM, Bang Si Hyuk reasoned, "I did not want to pursue the acquisition at the expense of damaging HYBE's shareholder value and disrupting order in the market. At the same time, costs can appear as mere numbers, but a complicated process such as this involves significant other tangible and intangible costs which can be quite burdensome. Bearing that amount of unwanted weight was not the outcome we desired. Thus, it was decided that HYBE would pursue its original roadmap of global expansion." 

To another comment observing, "In the end, it seems that Kakao won and HYBE lost," Bang Si Hyuk remarked, "Of course, companies contributed greatly in the growth of K-Pop up to its current status today. However, the ones who contribute and direct the industry itself are the artists who fulfill their duties to their fullest potential."

Bang continued, "Even as the press and the public viewed these developments using provocative terms like 'an acquisition battle', the artists who were undoubtedly also suffering in their own places continued to fulfill their duties as artists faithfully, and likewise, the fans remained faithful to their artists. I felt that throughout the acquisition process, we did not properly respect the artists and their fans. From the perspective of management, this was heartbreaking, and I would like to take this opportunity to deliver my apologies to the artists and fans." 

Finally, Bang Si Hyuk cautiously shed light on SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man's reaction to the latest developments the acquisition. Bang relayed, "I was not able to inform Lee Soo Man sunsaengnim of the developments until after the settlement was reached. But afterward, I took the time to provide him a detailed explanation of HYBE's decision, and he did not show any particularly emotional reaction. He only said, 'You could have won it, so why did you stop?'. But he did not openly express his disappointment in my decision."