"Never seen a case where a dominant figure's recklessness led to success"
"Min Hee-jin, a potential time bomb for HYBE"
The conflict between Min Hee-jin, CEO of Adore, a subsidiary label under HYBE?the largest record planning company in Korea?and the group NewJeans, which is signed under Adore, has intensified. Over two days starting from the 22nd, the stock price dropped by about 8%, wiping out 850 billion KRW in market capitalization. A post predicting this situation a year ago has recently gained attention.
It is a post titled "NewJeans is not the problem, but Min Hee-jin is" that was posted on the HYBE stock bulletin board last January. The author questioned, "Has there ever been a case in the entertainment industry where a CEO’s reckless behavior led to success?" and criticized Min’s aggressive actions by saying, "Park Jin-young can’t even give songs to JYP idols, Yang Hyun-suk got involved in lawsuits and barely made a comeback. Someone like Bang Si-hyuk should support from behind the scenes, so what is Min doing going on tvN’s 'You Quiz on the Block' and doing interviews like that?"
The author analyzed, "Min Hee-jin feels like a potential bomb for HYBE," and added, "There’s no need to praise the parent company, but it’s unacceptable to disparage it like that. If you give interviews as if you could have created (NewJeans) without HYBE, what does that make the HYBE employees and shareholders who supported you? It’s absurd."
At that time, Min Hee-jin emphasized in an interview with Cine21, "People easily say ‘HYBE capital,’ but personally, I don’t agree with that expression," and stated, "I received investment proposals of similar scale from other places besides HYBE." She reiterated, "I had various options at the time, and regardless of the investor, ‘creative independence’ and ‘non-interference’ clauses were my top priorities, so there was no particular reason it had to be HYBE." She stressed again, "The detailed label management strategy was independent of HYBE," asserting that her achievements were absolutely independent from HYBE, the industry leader.
In response, the author pointed out Min’s attitude, saying, "No one is trying to steal the remarkable achievements Min Hee-jin made, but she seems to be feeling guilty alone," and criticized her for denying the symbiotic relationship with HYBE and emphasizing that the ideas for Adore are purely "mine, Min Hee-jin’s." The author also predicted, "It seems inevitable that Min Hee-jin will eventually take NewJeans with her."
HYBE and its subsidiary Adore are clashing over "attempts to seize management rights" and "copying NewJeans." On the 22nd, HYBE’s auditor at Adore requested a board meeting, which is scheduled for the 30th of next month. If the board meeting cannot be established due to Adore’s directors’ absence, HYBE plans to apply to the court for permission to convene an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting. HYBE and Adore have each appointed Kim & Chang law firm and Sejong law firm as their legal representatives to respond to the situation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
