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At the National Assembly’s annual audit on October 24, 2024, HYBE's COO and BELIFT LAB CEO, Kim Tae-ho, apologized, stating he would "hold those accountable" for leaking a company document containing derogatory remarks about K-pop idols. Kim clarified that these comments did not reflect HYBE’s views but were compilations of fan comments found online.
Electronic Times reported that the discussion was wrapped up during the audit, however, it was re-opened later the same day. This happened because, amidst the ongoing audit, Kim Tae-ho issued an official statement on behalf of HYBE stating that he would hold those accountable who leaked the document to the public. The National Assembly questioned the HYBE COO about his statement.
Democratic Party Representative Min Hyung-bae highlighted that the phrase in the company's statement "hold accountable to the end" seemed threatening. People Power Party Representative Park Jeong-ha questioned COO Kim Tae-ho if the company was challenging freedom of speech and taking the National Assembly lightly.
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“I am concerned about the part that says, ‘We will hold accountable to the end those who leaked it to the outside. ’ Holding accountable to the end is an extremely threatening expression. It means that they will block free discussion and debate, but they have not stated their position on this at all," Representative Park Jeong-ha said.
BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho apologized for his rash decision of issuing the statement while the audit was ongoing and said:
“It was inappropriate to release a statement during the audit. My deepest apologies. We faced numerous media inquiries and wanted to prevent misinformation from spreading in communities, not to disregard the National Assembly. I sincerely apologize again.”
HYBE COO & BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho states that no investigation will be done
It is important to note that Kim Tae-ho proved at the National Assembly audit about the comments and their origin due to which the topic was closed. He had to apologize later at the audit for his rash decision to issue a cautionary statement of taking action against anyone who leaked the documents in public.
Kim Tae-ho assured the National Assembly that they issued the official statement regarding the leak of the alleged derogatory comments against the K-pop idols as a means to take "necessary measures" to protect its artists. Electronic Times quoted Kim Tae-ho saying,
"I think there should be necessary measures taken. We will check the relevant part, take responsibility, take appropriate action, and then share it. I think the headquarters wanted to mention parts that did not match the actual situation. However, I think it should not have gone that way, and we will reflect and revise the parts that were pointed out."
Furthermore, Electronic Times reported on October 24, 2024, that another issue was highlighted during the audit concerning the label's alleged album pushing practice aka sajaegi. This tactic refers to companies incentivizing excessive album purchases from fans through merchandise and unique incentives, such as rare photo cards or fan meeting opportunities.
Democratic Party Representative Min Hyung-bae argued during the audit that such marketing practices encourage unhealthy consumer spending and can be manipulative. Recent allegations suggest that HYBE may have used these strategies to boost album sales beyond typical levels by shipping out larger quantities of albums with a return policy on some of them.
However, the assembly did not disclose the name of the idol group, they asked BELIFT LAB CEO Kim Tae-ho to address the issue. In response, he said,
"There were some issues raised about this at the beginning of the year, so we conducted an internal audit. We confirmed that about a few percent of the albums sold last year were sold with a returnable structure. We have established guidelines to ensure that sales in this way never happen again as a company regulation."
In other news, HYBE is criticized for allegedly trying to sabotage SM Entertainment's rookie boy band, RIIZE, to safeguard its own boy group, TWS. HYBE was accused of allegedly using Seunghan's smoking controversy from November 2023 based on a few netizens' claims.
