The video had none of the characteristics of K-pop. No catchy tune, no stylish outfits, no stylish dance routines. Certainly no stars. The show took place in a plain auditorium with white tables and a large projection screen.
But it included screenshots of discussions between two industry power players and instantly became the talk of the K-pop world.
It was the live broadcast of an emotional two-hour story delivered last month by Min Hee-Jin, the producer of NewJeans, arguably the hottest K-pop group of the moment. She had called a press conference to challenge accusations of embezzlement on the part of her employer, Hybe, the K-pop colossus behind BTS.
This unusually public and hostile feud – which included allegations of plagiarism, card rigging and shamanism – led to the erasure of hundreds of millions of dollars from Hybe’s market value. And it has cast a cloud over Hybe’s relationship with rising star NewJeans while his biggest group, BTS, is on hiatus.
“It’s about money, it’s about control and also ownership of an artist,” Andrew Eungi Kim said, referring to NewJeans. A professor at Korea University, Mr. Kim studies the country’s cultural influence, a phenomenon known as hallyu.
The BTS members, all of whom are serving in the South Korean military due to mandatory conscription, are not expected to reunite until next year. While some of them have released solo albums, NewJeans have racked up their fair share of accolades. Over the past year, he has topped the Billboard 200, performed at Lollapalooza and appeared in commercials for Apple and Coca-Cola.
The creative force behind the act is Ms. Min, who was recruited by Hybe to develop a girl group. His backlash against Hybe and its founder, Bang Si-hyuk, resonated widely in South Korea, where corporate life can be extremely hierarchical.
“She looks like a helpless visionary fighting against a giant corporation,” Mr. Kim said.
Created nearly two decades ago as Big Hit, Hybe has become the dominant force in K-pop thanks in large part to the global success of BTS. It went public in 2020, and a year later its market value peaked at around $12 billion. Since then, its shares have lost about half their value amid concerns that they won’t be able to replicate BTS’s profitability.
Hybe has had success with other groups like Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together. It has also expanded in the United States with operations such as the acquisition of Ithaca Holdings, which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. In 2022, he released the first single from NewJeans, “Attention,” without the characteristic fanfare of early K-pop. The following year was Hybe’s most lucrative ever, with the company posting an annual profit of approximately 186.6 billion Korean won, or $136 million.
One of the first public signs of trouble at Hybe came on April 22, when it announced it would audit Ador, a subsidiary run by Ms. Min. She accused Ms. Min of illegally trying to take control of Ador and demanded. that she resigns. Hybe owns 80 percent of Ador, Ms. Min owns 18 percent and the rest is owned by other executives. On April 25, Hybe filed a police report against her.
Ms. Min responded publicly the same day with a press conference. Wearing a green T-shirt with white stripes and a Los Angeles Dodgers cap, she appeared disheveled and collapsed several times. She rejected Hybe’s accusations and shared screenshots of conversations with Mr Bang, the company’s founder, which she said were evidence of a difficult work environment.
She also said she was not compensated fairly and accused Hybe of plagiarizing her work with NewJeans to improve other acts. Hybe has denied his allegations.
For Ms. Min, the conflict was a tug-of-war between creative and corporate interests.
“All I care about is NewJeans,” Ms. Min said in comments broadcast live by major South Korean television channels.
Two days later, a new song from NewJeans, “Bubble gum”, was published as planned.
In a written response to questions, Ms Min said: “It is time to reconsider the nature of the entertainment industry. For K-pop to continue to thrive, she added, the industry needs to focus “fundamentally on creators and creation” rather than money and management.
After Ms. Min’s appearance, rumors involving Hybe artists, chart rigging and cults circulated on the Internet. For fans, it tarnished the image of their favorite bands.
A group of BTS fans took out an ad in local newspapers, criticizing Hybe for airing their dirty laundry. Another demonstrated in front of Hybe’s offices.
Ian Liu, a NewJeans fan from Jakarta, Indonesia, shared a similar sentiment. “Artists are collateral damage,” he said.
Hybe was also involved in a public feud last year, although it was with outside parties. It was a bidding war for SM Entertainment, another K-pop company, won by Kakao, a South Korean tech giant.
The dispute with Ms Lee, who is Ador’s chief executive, is being taken to court.
“It’s hard to predict what will happen at this point,” said Lee Gyu Tag, a professor of cultural studies and anthropology at George Mason University’s Korean branch. “Ultimately, this issue between Hybe and Ador will be a learning opportunity for other agencies, allowing them to learn how to effectively run their businesses.”
