Who is Kim Yeon-soo? SEVENTEEN's agency PLEDIS Entertainment replaces CEO following HYBE's internal document leak

SEVENTEEN's agency PLEDIS Entertainment has appointed Kim Yeon-soo as the new CEO of the label, following HYBE's controversial internal document leak. On November 1, PLEDIS Entertainment confirmed that Kim Yeon-soo, the former vice president of the company, has now been appointed as the CEO.

Notably, this change in the agency took place after the leak of HYBE's internal document at the National Assembly audit, held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth on October 24, 2024. Subsequently, the company got backlash from K-pop fans, including SEVENTEEN’s fandom Carats, due to its alleged content and comments about the boy band member Joshua and several other K-pop groups.

Following this incident, Kim Yeon-soo was announced as the new CEO of PLEDIS Entertainment. According to Newsen, Kim Yeon-soo joined the company in 2012 and immensely contributed to its growth. In 2023, he was announced as the CEO of HYBE Labels Japan. Now, he will continue to be the CEO of the two HYBE labels.

As per Daum News, Kim Yeon-soo shared his thoughts and plans as the new CEO of PLEDIS Entertainment, and he said,

"I will do my best to provide content that allows people to truly enjoy original entertainment while putting artists and fans first.”

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HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang issues apology following the leak of the internal document

On October 24, Democratic Party representative Min Hyung-bae unveiled a controversial internal document, titled 'Industry Trends Data,' made at HYBE. According to Sports Kyunghyang, the document contained slandering and malicious comments against several K-pop artists, which started a huge debate among fans online.

HYBE COO Kim Tae-ho, who attended the audit to answer questions on behalf of the entertainment conglomerate on October 24, 2024, stated that the content of the document does not represent the opinion of the agency but was a compilation of public opinion and posts made by netizens online.

On October 29, CEO Lee Jae-sang issued a formal apology on the official website of the agency. He wrote,

“It was shared with only some leaders for the purpose of understanding the market and artist fans’ opinions, but the content of the document was very inappropriate.”

He admitted that the content of the document was "inappropriate," apologizing to the artists who had been harmed because of it.

“I acknowledge all my mistakes and feel responsible on behalf of the company for the fact that it contained provocative and crude expressions toward K-pop artists, the fact that the writer’s personal views and evaluations were added, and the fact that the content was left in the document,” he added.

CEO Lee Jae-sang further stated that he would like to apologize to all the artists from other agencies who were mentioned in the document. Furthermore, he said that he contacted each agency and apologized to them directly. He ended the statement by saying:

“As the representative of the company, we will thoroughly improve our past mistakes through thorough reflection and introspection, and we will do our best for the sound development of the K-pop industry by prioritizing the rights and interests of all K-pop artists and respect for fans.”

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For the unversed, BIGHIT Entertainment, founded by producer Bang Si-hyuk in 2005, acquired major shares in PLEDIS Entertainment in 2020. A year later, in 2021, BIGHIT Entertainment was reorganized as HYBE Corporation, establishing a multi-label system with subsidiaries like BIGHIT MUSIC, PLEDIS Entertainment, Source Music, and more.

Currently, PLEDIS Entertainment has artists namely SEVENTEEN, fromis_9, TWS, Baekho, Bumzu, and Hwang Min-hyun.