HYBE has become one of the top four agencies in South Korea thanks to the world-class success of the boy band BTS. In recent years, HYBE has continued to expand its business territory. In addition to directly establishing overseas companies in the United States and Japan, they have also become the parent company of many music labels through joint ventures and share acquisitions!In South Korea, HYBE’s subsidiary brokerage companies include BELIFT LAB(ENHYPEN, ILLIT, HYBE wholly owned),Entertainment(SEVENTEEN, HYBE holds 85% of the shares),I ADORE (NewJeans, HYBE holds 80% shares),SOURCE MUSIC(LE SSERAFIM, HYBE holds 80% shares),KOZ Entertainment(ZICO, BOYNEXTDOOR, HYBE holds 75% shares) etc.
It can be seen from the above that many of the most popular Korean groups are “cousins”. Therefore, when a group releases a new song, the brothers and sisters will always cooperate with each other in the community. However, K-POP has experienced a big shock recently. HYBE held a shareholder meeting without warning and asked ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin to resign because he believed that Min Hee Jin was trying to seize management rights. Min Hee Jin also responded by saying that this was HYBE’s revenge against herself because She just recently filed an internal report of “ILLIT plagiarizing NewJeans”!
There are various hints and speculations about the development of this incident. The following only reports the official statements and statements of the two parties…
A quick look at the information:4/25 Min Hee Jin press conference、4/26HYBE issued a press release in response
April 22: HYBE held a shareholders’ meeting to demand that ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin step down.
Fans of K-pop boy band BTS, take a photograph the Hybe Co. headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023. Hybe is scheduled to report earning results on Feb. 21. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty Images
On the 22nd, HYBE confirmed to the media that it had exercised its right to inspect ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and other senior executives. It held a shareholders’ meeting on April 22 and sent a formal letter asking Min Hee-jin to step down. As for why this was done without warning? HYBE officials stated that they could not provide further information.. However, according to Korean media reports, HYBE suspects that Min Hee Jin and senior executives who defected from HYBE to ADOR are working together to try to steal management rights.
April 22: Min Hee Jin’s official statement counterattacks
instagram@min.hee.jin
After the news of HYBE’s comprehensive inspection was made public, ADOR and CEO Min Xizhen also took a strongly offensive attitude. On April 22, Min Hee-jin accepted an exclusive interview with the Korea Economic Daily and stated that “the statement that ADOR is trying to seize management rights is completely untrue” and further alleged that “the dispute between HYBE and us stems from “plagiarism disputes between subsidiaries.” ” and issued the following statement:
Min Hee Jin’s statement to the Korea Economic Daily:
Hello,
Here is ADOR representing Min Hee Jin.
In order to protect its artist NewJeans and promote the healthy development of the Korean music industry and culture, ADOR now publicly expresses its position on the “ILLIT plagiarism NewJeans incident”.
HYBE operates multiple subsidiaries that operate independently and pursue cultural diversity. ADOR is one of them. However, the cultural achievements of ADOR and its artists NewJeans were most seriously infringed upon by HYBE.
BELIFT LAB, a subsidiary of HYBE, launched the idol group ILLIT, composed of five women, in March this year. After the teaser photos of ILLIT were released, it triggered a strong reaction of “I thought it was NewJeans”. ILLIT copied NewJeans in terms of artist image, makeup, clothing, dance, photos, videos, performances, etc. ILLIT has been evaluated as “Min Hee Jin style”, “Min Hee Jin type”, “a branch of NewJeans”, etc.
