This video had no K-Pop characteristics at all. There are no catchy songs, fancy costumes, or sophisticated dance moves. There are certainly no stars. It took place in a nondescript auditorium with plain white tables and a large projector screen.
However, it contained screenshots of a chat between two industry heavyweights, and it quickly became the talk of the K-pop world.
It was a live broadcast of an emotional two-hour show broadcast last month by Min Hee-jin, the producer of NewJeans, arguably today's hottest K-pop artist. She convened a press conference to refute accusations of corporate fraud by her employer at Hive, the K-pop giant behind BTS.
The unusually public and hostile feud, which included plagiarism, chart fraud, and allegations of shamanism, wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars in Hive's market value. While Hive's biggest artist, BTS, is on hiatus, the relationship between Hive and rising star New Jeans is clouded over.
“It's about money, it's about control, it's about artist ownership,” Andrew Eun-gi Kim said of NewJeans. Kim, a professor at Korea University, studies the country's cultural influence, known as the Korean Wave.
All BTS members are currently serving in the South Korean military due to conscription, but it is not expected that they will be able to reunite until next year. Several of them have released solo albums, and NewJeans has earned that honor. Over the past year, the song has topped the Billboard 200, been performed at Lollapalooza and appeared in commercials for Apple and Coca-Cola.
The creative force behind this effort is Min, who was hired by Hybe to develop an all-girl band. Her backlash against Hybe and its founder, Bang Si-hyuk, resonated widely in South Korea, where corporate life can be highly hierarchical.
“She's like a powerless visionary who's fighting a giant corporation,” Kim said.
Hybe, which started as a label called Big Hit nearly 20 years ago, has become a dominant force in the K-pop world, thanks in large part to the global success of BTS. It went public in 2020, and a year later its market value reached approximately $12 billion. Since then, the company's stock has lost about half its value amid concerns that it won't be able to replicate BTS' profitability.
Hybe has also had success with other groups such as Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together. It is also expanding its business in the United States, including acquiring Ithaca Holdings, which manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. In 2022, NewJeans released his first single “Attention” without the fanfare typical of his K-pop debut. The following year was Hive's most profitable year ever, with annual profits of approximately 186.6 billion Korean won, or $136 million.
Hive's turmoil first became public on April 22, when it announced an audit of Adore, a subsidiary run by Min. The group accused Min of trying to illegally take control of Adore and called for his resignation. Mr Hive owns 80% of Adore shares, Mr Ming holds 18% and the rest is owned by other executives. On April 25, Hive filed a complaint with the police.
Min publicly responded at a press conference on the same day. Wearing a green T-shirt with white stripes and a Los Angeles Dodgers hat, she appeared disheveled and collapsed several times. She rejected Mr. Hive's accusations, and she shared screenshots of her chats with Mr. Bang, the company's founder, suggesting it was evidence of her harsh working conditions.
She also said she had not received fair compensation and accused Hive of plagiarizing her work with New Jeans to improve other acts. Ms Hive denies her allegations.
For Min, the debate was a tug-of-war between creative and corporate interests.
“All I care about is New Jeans,” Min said in comments livestreamed by South Korea's major broadcasters.
Two days later, NewJeans' new song “Bubblegum” was released as planned.
“The time has come to rethink the nature of the entertainment industry,” Min said in a written response to questions. She added that for K-pop to continue to thrive, the industry needs to focus on “fundamentally the creators and the work” rather than money and management.
After Min's appearance, rumors about Hive artists, chart cheating, and cult-related rumors spread across the internet. For fans, this tarnished the image of their favorite artist.
A group of BTS fans placed an ad in a local newspaper criticizing Hybe for airing their dirty laundry. Another protested outside Mr. Hive's office.
Ian Liu, a NewJeans fan from Jakarta, Indonesia, had similar thoughts. “Artists are becoming collateral damage,” he says.
Mr Hive was also involved in a public feud last year, but it was with an outside party. This was a bidding war for another K-Pop company, SM Entertainment, which was won by South Korean tech giant Kakao.
The dispute with Mr. Lee, Adore's chief executive, is headed to court.
“It's difficult to predict what will happen at this point,” said Lee Gyu Tag, a professor of cultural studies and anthropology at George Mason University's Korean branch. “Ultimately, this issue between Hybe and Ador will be an opportunity for other agencies to learn how to effectively manage their own companies.”