According to Sports Seoul, the total length of the report is about 2,000 pages, and if the entire document is made public, it is expected to deal a major blow to the entertainment industry.
In addition, the relationship between K (a man surnamed Kang), former editor-in-chief of Weverse Magazine - the writer of the document (recently dismissed) and HYBE President Bang Si Hyuk also attracted attention.
The relationship between President Bang and former director K began in the 2000s. They were both under the entertainment company JYP Entertainment and began working together around 2005 when Big Hit Entertainment was founded.
K later became the editor-in-chief of a well-known media outlet and also a consultant for entertainment companies. It is said that the editor-in-chief at that time was negligent in his work, causing many complaints from reporters.
As an editor, K was known for publishing the influential “Weekly Report,” which was very similar to the “Industry Trend Report” he wrote for Bang Si Hyuk later. K tended to combine “stories from meeting reporters” with “opinions from online communities,” and his articles often caused a stir in the industry.
After founding HYBE Labels, Bang Si Hyuk began looking for influential editors and reporters that he could “recruit to his side.” He eventually personally recruited K for an executive-level position at HYBE Labels’ subsidiary, Weverse Magazine.
K is paid a hefty annual salary of hundreds of millions of dollars to serve as the chief editor of Weverse Magazine. But one of his most important duties is actually overseeing the compilation of the “Industry Trend Report,” a document used to brief HYBE Labels executives on the latest developments in the K-pop industry.
This report was written exactly as Chairman Bang intended. A person who knows Director K well said, “The Bang Si Hyuk I know is someone who searches all the bulletin boards. He is very sensitive to industry trends and opinions.
So, Director K went through many fandom message boards, including platform X, screened all the stories, and wrote in the report.”
Furthermore, this report serves as a guide for many of HYBE's executives, who come from the video game industry, which operates under different principles than the Kpop industry.
Another official close to K said of HYBE's report: "There is too much content that is not true."
“HYBE is a company with a market share of over 50% in Kpop. It is not simply an entertainment company. So they should not do it that way,” said an entertainment company CEO.
If you criticize other artists, of course you should consider it as criticizing your own artist. They make it seem like everyone else is in trouble except them… It lowers the overall level of K-pop.”
Former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin had previously objected to the report. She sent an email on April 16 stating, “The industry trend reports published weekly by Weverse Magazine’s editor-in-chief K contain biased content and lack an objective viewpoint.
However, what ADOR requires are accurate numbers and metrics. At the very least, try to maintain some degree of objectivity.”
“It is so biased that it raises doubts about whether it was spread for some purposeful propaganda,” Min Hee Jin warned.
