According to Korean media, there is currently information that CEO Lee Bo Young of Shinsegae Group has completed his resignation from Shinsegae, and will officially join HYBE Group at the end of May.
Industry insider confirmed: Its true that Lee Bo Young will move to HYBE. However, only a few executives in the company know about this transition.
Shinsegae is Korea's largest retail group and Lee Bo Young is known as the "right-hand man" of Shinsegae Group Chairman Chung Yoo Kyung.
Entertainment industry insiders say that HYBE President Bang Si Hyuk's hiring of an expert from a major financial group is a move to demonstrate the efforts of former CEO Min Hee Jin to fill the vacant position at his subsidiary ADOR.
Min Hee Jin announced her resignation in November 2024, after many months of confrontations with HYBE, for allegedly wanting to take girl group NewJeans out of ADOR company.
The person expected to succeed Min Hee Min, Lee Bo Young, born in 1972, is an expert in the field of design and brand building.
She made history as the first female CEO of Shinsegae Group when she joined in 2010.
Her impressive career includes roles as Creative Director at Sephora of luxury group LVMH and Global Creative Director at Google.
In 2023, she returned to Shinsegae as a trusted consultant when Chung Yoo Kyung focused on expanding beauty and lifestyle businesses.
Until recently, Lee Bo Young has remained as Executive Director of Brand Sales at Shinsegae and Shinsegae International.
Like former CEO Min Hee Jin, Lee Bo Young was originally expected to join his parent company HYBE, not its subsidiary ADOR. However, the exact location and rank have not been announced.
HYBE shared with Weekly Chosun media agency: "We cannot confirm whether a specific member has joined the company or not."
The news that HYBE chose Lee Bo Young to replace Min Hee Jin received mixed reactions.
Many opinions say that HYBE should hire someone with expertise and knowledge in the entertainment industry instead of a brand building expert in the economic field.
This also led to comments that HYBE only cares about revenue and profit, instead of focusing on creating music products.
Previously, after sacking Min Hee Jin and her colleagues, HYBE's human resources director, Kim Joo Young, was appointed as CEO of ADOR.
How can they not put some experts in the entertainment industry? They didn't learn how Park Ji Won ran things and made fandoms angry about that?.
Is a brand-building expert not completely different from a music producer and stylist?
They hired a brand-building specialist, not a manufacturer. That shows what HYBE is like as a company, some of the comments highlighted in the online community.
