The National Assembly deemed HYBE’s first statement to be completely inappropriate.
Yesterday
On October 24, 2024 (KST), MOVES‘s COO and Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae Ho was questioned at the South Korean National Assembly audit, where some of the most shocking revelations about HYBE’s business operations were made.
Leaked Internal Documents From HYBE Lead To Suspicions That They Sabotaged RIIZE
National Assembly member Min Hyung Bae was unforgiving in his questioning, as Kim Tae Ho struggled to provide clear-cut answers.
“Didn’t Chairman Bang Si-hyuk tell you to write this and report it to the editor-in-chief?”
“..Well, that’s not my jurisdiction..”
“So I called Bang Si-hyuk, but he came out instead!! But what if you say it like this!” pic.twitter.com/LMli0PMzwr
— mhj Archive (@Daepunimarchive) October 24, 2024
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.”
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.
— MOVEMENTS
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 sooalso the head of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee leading the audit, openly criticized HYBE for “not taking the National Assembly seriously.”
During the National Assembly inspection, there is no need to be rude.
The Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism was furious at Hive for making an official statement saying that they would hold responsible until the end for the “forces” who leaked it, as if Hive had created material criticizing artists by only piecing together provocative content. Oh, the opening is great haha.
“Is the National Assembly that easy??” LOL pic.twitter.com/DKZaIz0rjZ— Fy (@roro95) October 24, 2024
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.
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
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