Hyunsoo Yim
SEOUL (Reuters) – The South Korean music executive credited with creating the popular K-pop group NewJeans has denied allegations that she was trying to split her label from HYBE, home of global sensation BTS, sending the K-pop giant’s shares tumbling on Friday.
An internal dispute at HYBE, South Korea’s largest music company, has sent its share price down more than 12% since it went public on Monday and dented expectations for growth in sales of NewJeans’ new releases as well as the return of some BTS. participants in compulsory military service.
HYBE shares closed down 4.95% on Friday, while the benchmark index closed up more than 1%.
On Thursday, Min Hee-jin, CEO of HYBE’s majority-owned label ADOR, said in a live event watched by millions of K-pop fans that she had no plans to split from the company, refuting HYBE’s claims that she was planning to become independent.
Earlier this week, HYBE launched an internal investigation and accused Min of breach of trust.
“I am very sorry that I caused fans, artists and staff to worry due to what happened during the multi-label (system) upgrade process,” HYBE CEO Park Ji-won said in a statement.
Ming and other senior executives own 20 percent of ADOR and HYBE 80 percent.
The controversy is the latest to hit South Korea’s lucrative K-pop industry.
Last year, SM Entertainment’s takeover by South Korean social media giant Kakao sparked an internal leadership battle, while Fifty Fifty, the girl group behind the TikTok hit “Cupid”, also saw their careers decline after a legal battle with its agency. Attraction in 2023.
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