[Global Times Special Correspondent in South Korea Mang Jiuchen] According to a report by South Korea's MBC TV station on the 30th, HYBE, a well-known entertainment company in the country, caused huge controversy for producing an "Industry Trend Report" that included comments on

[Global Times Special Correspondent in South Korea Mang Jiuchen] According to a report from South Korea's MBC TV station on the 30th, Hybe, a well-known entertainment company in the country, caused huge controversy for producing an "Industry Trend Report" that included comments on the appearance of singers. Under pressure from public opinion, the company quickly issued a formal apology and held a staff meeting on the 30th to discuss the matter. In addition, Jiang, the director of weverse magazine who produced the report, was dismissed from his post.

Korean idol group Seventeen member Bo Seung-kwan (Visual China)

originated from an industry trend report

hybe company representative director Lee Jaesang (sound) said through the company's official website on the 29th that the report was for the purpose of understanding public opinion and was only shared with a certain number of people. , but the content in the relevant documents is highly inappropriate. Regarding the production of relevant content into documents, I admit all mistakes on behalf of the company and feel a heavy responsibility. Lee Jaesang also stated that he would solemnly and formally apologize to artists from other companies, and is contacting various agencies and will apologize personally. In order to ensure that such problems will not occur again, the company will establish work guidelines and strengthen internal management in the future.

Previously, at the national affairs inspection meeting of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee of the Korean National Assembly held on the 24th, it was pointed out that Hybe Company produced an industry trend report targeting members of Korean idol groups. The report included comments on the appearance of Korean idol singers such as "The members are ugly and they are all being forced to debut", "None of them have the facial features of idols, and the plastic surgery is too severe", "Other members are horribly ugly". After the controversy arose, Hybe later stated through its official website that the relevant report was only a document that synthesized public opinion in the industry and was not Hybe’s position. "Relevant forces that leaked documents to the outside will be investigated to the end." Hybe's statement attracted more criticism.

"We are not your product"

South Korea's "Daily Business" said that Seungkwan, a member of the idol group seventeen, uploaded an article suspected of criticizing Hybe Company on the 29th, which attracted attention. Fu Shengkuan posted on the social media platform, "Those people are not objects for you to evaluate or judge at will. Not only us, but also other artists. We are not your commodities. Don't treat us as objects of casual consumption." The

report also said that although the person in charge of Hybe Company publicly apologized, the negative public opinion against Hybe Company may not be easily subsided. As a large entertainment company with the largest market capitalization in South Korea and leading the K-pop industry (the company where BTS is located), Hybe has been internally sharing articles that criticize idols from other entertainment companies. This has caused a lot of confusion. impact. From the conflict with Min Hee Jin, the representative of subsidiary Ador, to Hanni, a member of the girl group Newjeans, crying about being excluded by the company, negative news about Hybe Company has continued one after another. I hope that Hybe Company can show the attitude it should have as the number one entertainment company in the country in the future, and no longer be "Negative topic maker".

Singers are being squeezed out and there are fights among senior executives

There has been constant negative news about hybe recently. According to Yonhap News Agency, on the 15th of this month, Hanni, a member of the girl group Newjeans, attended the National Political Inspection Meeting of the Environment and Labor Committee of the Korean National Assembly and cried out that the team was being squeezed out by the company. Kim Joo-young, chief human resources officer of hybe and representative of newjeans agency ador, denied this. Hanni accepted questions that day on the issue of "idol group exclusion and workplace bullying." She mentioned that she was ignored by another artist group under Hybe Company. According to her recollection, when she was waiting in the corridor after finishing her makeup, when three other team members and the female manager passed by her, she said hello to those members. When they came out again about 5 to 10 minutes later, the manager said to the members who were following them, "Pretend not to see her and ignore her." Hanni claimed that Newjeans were squeezed out by Hybe, and said that the manager of the girl group Illit, a subsidiary of Hybe, forced Illit members to ignore Hanni.

Previously, South Korea’s "Central Daily News" reported that Min Hee-jin, the representative of ador, a company to which the girl group Newjeans belongs, had rebutted Hybe's claim of "suspected usurpation of management rights" and said that she had "no plan, no intention, and no implementation of the usurpation of management rights." Pass". Min Hee Jin said, "I didn't betray Hybe, but Hybe betrayed me. They used it and threw it away, and then trapped me into injustice and suppressed me." Some lawyers compared this incident to a divorce proceeding - the husband (hybe) suddenly submitted a divorce application to his wife (ador), and the daughters (newjeans) were in chaos because they would take the college entrance examination the day after tomorrow (returning in May).

South Korean popular music critic Lim Jin-mo pointed out, "This incident exposed the very dark side of the K-pop (Korean Wave) industry that has been trying to hide" and "It has caused a huge blow to K-pop. Judging from this, this is a more serious incident than last year’s SM Entertainment management rights dispute.”