HYBE faced strong criticism from the South Korean National Assembly following a statement issued in the middle of a government audit on October 24, 2024 (KST). HYBE‘s COO and Belift Lab CEO, Kim Tae Ho was questioned during the audit and struggled to address the committee’s inquiries, ultimately facing backlash for the company’s aggressive response.

Details of the Audit

During the National Assembly audit, Min Hyung Bae, a National Assembly member, interrogated Kim Tae Ho regarding the management and internal practices at HYBE, particularly focusing on leaked documents that hinted at alleged industry manipulation. When questioned about the report’s creation, Kim Tae Ho distanced himself, stating, “That’s not within the scope of my work.” However, this response did not sit well with Assembly members.

Min Hyung Bae: Isn’t it true that Bang Si Hyuk asked [Kang Myung Seo, the editor-in-chief of Weverse Magazine] to draft and submit this report?

Kim Tae Ho: It’s hard for me to say because that’s not within the scope of my work…

Min Hyung Bae: Which is why we asked Bang Si Hyuk to attend today. Did you not come to this audit on his behalf? Yet, you can’t answer these questions clearly?

But it was HYBE’s official statement, now-deleted, that really infuriated Min Hyung Bae and the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Tourism. In the statement, released in the middle of the audit, HYBE threatened to “see to it that whoever [publicized the documents] takes full responsibility.”

This is HYBE’s official statement. On October 24, the company documents used for monitoring at the audit by the Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Tourism were publicized, leading to various reactions by fandoms and industries, as well as articles from the press.

The contents (industry direction and issues) were only shared with a small portion of internal staff for reference and simply reflected the reactions from social media platforms and online communities verbatim, and does not constitute HYBE’s official stance.

The report in question also contains positive reviews from fans and things that people in the entertainment industry should take note of.

Provocative parts of the report were cherry-picked and leaked externally to make it seem as if HYBE had criticized other artists in our documents. We will see to it that whoever conducted this activity takes full responsibility.

— HYBE

When the National Assembly was made aware of the statement, Kim Tae Ho was berated on behalf of HYBE for “responding in an inappropriate manner.” National Assembly member Jeon Jae Soo, also the head of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee leading the audit, openly criticized HYBE for “not taking the National Assembly seriously.”

Jeon Jae Soo: This National Assembly audit is being conducted lawfully under the South Korean Constitution. You have come here as a witness and have ample opportunity to speak. Therefore, it is very inappropriate for the company to respond in such a manner regarding the inquiries and responses between the committee members and the witness while the audit is ongoing. As head of the committee, I must express how inappropriate that was and that you should apologize. How can HYBE issue a statement like that while the audit is in progress?

Kim Tae Ho: I’m terribly sorry, but I have not been able to see the said statement yet.

Jeon Jae Soo: Member Min Hyung Bae read it to you.

Kim Tae Ho: Was that the whole statement? I don’t have any information on it, so…

Jeon Jae Soo: It doesn’t matter if that was the whole statement or not. You were chosen as a witness by the committee and the committee is currently engaged in a Q&A session. For the company to issue a statement in any way while the audit is being conducted makes the audit seem meaningless and undermines the authority of the National Assembly. Is that acceptable? Is HYBE not taking the National Assembly seriously?

Kim Tae Ho then was asked to stay through the audit to be given another chance to speak about the statement itself (decided through a unanimous vote from both political parties) . That’s when Kim Tae Ho explained that it was in response to the rapidly growing backlash online, but admitted that HYBE was wrong to release such a statement mid-audit.

We released the statement because, during today’s National Assembly audit, there were numerous media inquiries regarding our stance on the topics related to us, to the extent that it was difficult to respond to each one individually.

Additionally, we assessed that content not addressed in the National Assembly audit, as well as content that was shown blurred during the audit, were being distorted and spread online  at a significant speed.

Thus, we decided to post the statement to promptly respond to media inquiries and prevent the amplification of incorrect information.

As I mentioned earlier, we certainly did not intend to disrespect the National Assembly. We  hereby acknowledge that issuing the statement during the National Assembly audit was a clear mistake on our part.

— Kim Tae Ho

HYBE’s involvement in such a high-profile audit continues to be a topic of contention, especially as questions remain about transparency and corporate responsibility in the entertainment sector.

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