Netizens point out that the issues raised against HYBE during the parliamentary audit are the exact same issues raised by Min Hee Jin

AKP STAFF

On October 24 KST, president Kim Tae Ho of BeLift Lab (also Chief Operating Officer at HYBE Labels, pictured above [left]) appeared at a session of the ongoing parliamentary audit held by the South Korean National Assembly's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee.

On this day, assemblyman Min Hyung Bae, representing the New Politics Alliance for Democracy Party, called to question HYBE's "advance purchase" method for inflating album sales.

The assemblyman stated, "There are two options in this 'advance purchase' method. First, the albums are purchased in advance, then returned later. Second, the albums are purchased in advance for use as bait during special events, such as fan signs."

In response, Kim Tae Ho said, "We have never sold albums on the condition that they would be returned later. Earlier this year, an issue was raised about this concern internally, and an audit was conducted. It was discovered that a small number of albums sold in 2023, in the ~0.0% range, were eligible for returns."

However, after hearing Kim Tae Ho's response, assemblyman Min revealed an email sent by a HYBE employee on January 4, 2024, titled, "Projected Return Schedule for Albums". According to the email, HYBE was expecting approximately 10,000 albums to be returned after a certain period by one overseas distributor, and another 25,000 albums to be returned after a certain period by a distributor in Japan.

After confirming the contents of the email, Kim Tae Ho changed his stance, commenting, "I see, some albums sold in 2023 were returned in 2024. I will make sure that these methods are not used again. This incident does not reflect the policies of HYBE Labels, and occurred as a result of an employee's decision-making. We have since adjusted the company's policy so that these sales methods are not permitted."

Finally, regarding the ongoing legal dispute between HYBE Labels and Min Hee Jin, former CEO of ADOR, Kim Tae Ho said, "We apologize for this ongoing issue. Due to a succession of publicized events this year, our company has caused fatigue for many people. We will do our best to resolve the issue and ensure that such occurrences do not happen again."

Korean netizens are now noticing that the issue of the "advance purchasing" method problematized during the parliamentary audit is the exact issue that Min Hee Jin had attempted to address internally in April of this year, when the HYBE vs. Min Hee Jin feud first began.

Previously, in early April, Min Hee Jin sent a lengthy email to the executives at HYBE Labels, which called out the following issues and sought to resolve them internally:

1. Inflation of album sales through the 'advance purchase' method.

2. The biased and non-objective nature of the company's 'Weekly Trend Reports'.

3. The discriminatory nature of the 'shared services' supposedly available to all sub-labels at HYBE, for which all companies pay a lofty fee.

4. Suspicion of BeLift Lab girl group ILLIT plagiarizing NewJeans.

However, HYBE Labels responded to Min Hee Jin's email by accusing her of professional malpractice and of attempting to "seize" ADOR for herself. The internal audit mentioned by Kim Tae Ho above was also a response to Min Hee Jin's email, although the audit itself focused on internal corruption at ADOR more than it did on dishonest album sales.

Many netizens are of the opinion that the "dirt that HYBE tried to bury alive by getting rid of Min Hee Jin" is now "being dug up again". Others added on comments like,

"In the end, Min Hee Jin was just trying to call out HYBE's dirty methods!"

"All of the stuff that the assemblyman mentioned is the same stuff that Min Hee Jin talked about during her first press conference."

"She was literally trying to tell us all how HYBE was playing dirty..."

"HYBE thought it could just bury all of the crimes in the dirt."

"I'm actually amazed that Min Hee Jin tried to address the issue internally and find a resolution even though she knew all about the corruption. And that's when they decided to witch hunt her down."

"It turns out, there's more than enough evidence to prove that everything Min Hee Jin accused HYBE of doing was true. But where's the evidence that Min Hee Jin tried to steal ADOR through overseas investors? Well, HYBE?"