"We will immediately decide" — Ministry of Employment and Labor shares an update on HYBE's 'Top Company' status revocation petition

On November 11, 2024, Daily Sports reported that the petition to revoke HYBE's 'Top Company' for job creation status gained over 51,215 signatures. The petition was originally filed on the official website of the National Assembly of The Ministry of Employment and Labor on October 31.

When a national petition reaches 50,000 signatures within 30 days of its posting, it is forwarded to the appropriate National Assembly standing committee for consideration. After being examined by the Petition Review Sub-committee, the dissected petition is either dismissed or sent to the plenary session for verdict.

Daily Sports reported that the Ministry of Employment and Labor confirmed HYBE has been cooperating with the investigation, and a decision on revoking the company's status will be made soon.

"HYBE is cooperating with local government offices, and the results of the petition are expected to come out soon. Based on this, we will immediately decide whether to withdraw the 'top company' designation," he said.

The cancellation of HYBE's selection as a top company petition. (Image via National Assembly website)

For the unversed, when a company is awarded the 'Top Company' status in South Korea, it also earns several perks including preferred credit ratings, preferential interest rates for loan assistance, procurement points, and preferential entrance/exit cards. Meanwhile, if the petition gets approved then HYBE would be stripped of all its perks.

---

Over 51,000 fans sign the petition to rescind HYBE's 'Top Company' status amidst workplace bullying controversy

On October 15, 2024, NewJeans' Hanni (under HYBE subsidiary label, ADOR) gave testimony on workplace harassment/bullying claims at HYBE, during the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee audit. She claimed that she came across another HYBE idol group while entering the hair & makeup room.

Hanni claimed that she greeted the group and their manager while passing by them in the hallway and overheard the manager allegedly telling the group to "ignore" the NewJeans member. She had previously revealed the incident during a YouTube livestream on September 11, 2024.

During the National Assembly Audit, she raised questions about alleged bullying at work. On October 8, 2024, SPOTV News reported that after examining CCTV video and speaking with employees and artists, the label in question—later identified as BELIFT LAB—denied the accusations, saying they were baseless.

BELIFT LAB said:

"ILLIT’s protocol member (manager) has never said anything to the NewJeans members like ‘ignore them.’ ILLIT members have never passed by NewJeans members without saying hello to them."

Since then HYBE and BELIFT LAB has been facing a public backlash. However, on October 24, 2024, during the second hearing at the National Assembly Audit, around 2,000 pages of HYBE's controversial internal report were exposed by the Democratic Party of Korea representative, Min Hyung-bae.

The report contains 18,000 pages of defamatory and disparaging remarks regarding other K-pop groups such as Stray Kids, BLACKPINK, EXO, and more. HYBE COO Kim Tae-ho, who is also the CEO of BELIFT LAB, clarified that the report was a compilation of fans' social media discussions and comments.

It further amplified the public outrage which led to a netizen filing the petition demanding HYBE's 'Top Company' status be removed.

---

On October 29, 2024, Billboard reported that HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang apologized for the ongoing controversies and said he would personally apologize to other agencies and their K-pop groups.