With Two Months Remaining in 2024 K-netizens Wonder What the Biggest “Thing” to Happen This Year is: From Queen of Tears to Byun Woo Seok Onward
Oh this is a fun question to ponder! A recent hot post has K-netizens heatedly discussing what they think the biggest “Thing” to happen in 2024 is/will be. It’s basically what a top zeitgeist event is for K-ent and here are some of the contenders: mega hit and award winning movie Exhuma, new cable ratings champion Queen of Tears, the one-two punch of cult hit drama Lovely Runner or the newly minted super popular actor Byun Woo Seok, the Min Hee Jin affair (i.e. Ador, HYBE, New Jeans, teary accusation filled press conference, lawsuits, et. al.), Netflix hit cooking show Culinary Class Wars, and the first Korean writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature going to Han Kang. And of course with Squid Game 2 coming at year end it could blow it all up but may end up fitting better into a 2025 moment.
What’s the Min Hee Jin scandal??
More like hybe scandal, anyway it’s complex, don’t know which side is right, but it’s basically corporate fights
Thanks Yuhi!
Here you go: https://www.asianjunkie.com/2024/04/25/min-hee-jins-emotional-press-conference-on-the-hybe-ador-conflict-also-includes-newjeans-and-a-surprising-amount-of-other-groups/
Wow, Kpop! This is why I didn’t know anything about it. Thank you AJ!
Everyday, you can get current updates on Kpop site. It is a big scandal… Unfortunately, it affects a young popular Kpop Groups New Jeans. Completely sandwiched in between.
The Nobel Prize stands out from the list.
Min Hee Jin / HYBE and it’s seriously not even close. They have been in the news every week. Literally every single week for the whole year, something or the other is happening and it’s one of the craziest political scandal to happen in kent in so many years.
@Butterly It’s huge and also completely ridiculous, yeah kpop companies are mean and treat their idols like objects but they really took it all the way to their parliament to complain over…… not being greeted at work? (I could swear there was a case a few years ago where a big name idol full-on verbally abused a staff member and was caught on tape but apparently that doesn’t count as workplace bullying and this does?) more troubling to me is apparently Hybe idols are punished for responding to fans who asked for a boycott of Israel-supporting companies. I understand that idols are broadly meant to be kept away from politics or commenting on political issues but this is not good.
That said, people are acting like this is as bad as the Burning Sun scandal which is completely insane because have they forgotten what that was?
@Royal We
Agree with you, speculations about Hybe making scandals for groups of other companies are pretty big deal, but this is just theories, and I didn’t see any proof to that. Despite that, the things that made this scandal so big is… Trolls comments about idol’s look? In k-pop?
YG’s CEO called 2ne1 members ugly right in their faces when they were ~20 yo, SM company doing plastic surgery for most of their young idols, JYP’s Twice was on hardcore diets, the same did Hyena when she was in Cube. And Min Hee Jin called New Jeans members a fat in her personal chat. People acting as Hybe discussing idols in such way are such unexpected thing for k-pop, but unfortunately idols treated such way in all companies.
About not greeting at work, I remember how Bobby from iKON said on some show his group forbidden to greet Blackpink. It was 5 years ago, and no one cared at all, he even got hate train for saying that.
It’s not like I defending Hybe, and I’m not a fan of any group in that company. They were rude and unprofessional, but I can’t understand why people making Hybe as main villain and ignoring all others companies doing similar things.
It’s just looks as they found a scapegoat. All companies need to be critised for that, not only one, but yet attention led only to one of them, and public treating them as criminals in definitely heal and green flag k-pop industry.
Only like 7 months, but the amount of content and twists and turns make it feel like a whole year.
Yes, it’s definitely the HYBE scandal >>>>>>>>>>>>> everything else, especially with the recent leaks of the Hybe weekly burn book…ahem, I mean “Music Industry Report”. Pretty much shit-talked everyone in the kpop industry like some creepy internet troll. Even if you weren’t into kpop, the shocking unprofessionalism and knowing how public opinion can be bought and manipulated would be of interest to anyone. I can see this being a case study for many academic studies.
@prettyautumn yeah it’s weird and no surprise idol agency executives see idols as interchangeable bots who only exist to make them a profit but people are acting the way they did over that Burning Sun scandal, over bitchy comments and them shit talking their competitors/not greeting someone? like….how are these even comparable.
I really wonder why jiwon is not considered on the same level of popularity as wooseok. She got much more hype than ksh, went more viral, lots of people say they watched it for her but either she is mentioned in association with ksh or ksh is mentioned alone. I am tired of her not standing on her own
Its the way the companies are choosing to promoted things, Varo is absolutely pushing Byeon Woo Seok as 2nd coming of Christ for Hallayu while Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Ji Won and rest are very careful and/or more subtle. They have absolutely gone above and beyond to court the press circuit. Flowers, gifts, special access, exclusive quotes for joynews article….you name it….they are going all the way. Before people say I am being negative, I am not. His company is trying to maximize his appeal. There’s nothing wrong with it.
Kim Jiwon is naturally low profile – her only social media posts are for work – and her agency, while they promote her decently, haven’t been media playing about her nonstop like certain other agencies do.
This works in her favour on one hand in that she’s never overexposed and doesn’t become a target of public anger like BWS did, a little mystery is good. On the other hand, the lack of media play leads to international fans underestimating her, she’s still very popular in Korea – firmly A list and getting some top pick project offers. She’s booked multiple endorsement deals in the six months since Queen of Tears and had a successful fanmeeting tour across Asia – I suppose she’ll get around to picking a new acting project next year (that said, as a fan I still want her to be known as the star she is and credited for her successes in her own right).
Byeon Woo Seok’s PR is on overdrive. I hope he delivers and doesn’t fumble it. I would say Noble Prize definitely is a standout here.
@Anya yeah on the global scale the Nobel Prize to Han Kang is definitely the biggest deal and I’m so happy to see it. The Vegetarian and Human Acts were being read a lot a few years ago even in circles that weren’t into any form of Korean entertainment (music, drama), it’s good to see her get this recognition.
Wait how can a single person compare to a multibillion dollar company?
Even if MHJ is an awful character which is unlikely based on how the New Jeans members and family plus BTS members see to have warm interactions with her even after the scandal.
However lets say that she is, at most her net worth is in the millions of dollars how can she have any level or ability of power to place Hybe a Billion dollar company in the situation that its currently in?
Hybe is one of the fastest growing record companies in America is buying up the labels that represent Beiber, Ariana Grande, Migos, Tim McGraw, Cheryl Crow, at one time Taylor Swift etc.
Clearly their leadership objectify their Idols and only view them as money making vessels and thats it.
The way their leadership and workers run things is immoral plain and simple. MHJ is just unwilling to be made a scapegoat and be unfairly dragged through the mud. In her position as CEO of Ador I would attempt to go independent too and protect my artists.
If she was money hungry she would have let New Jeans be shelved and started another girl group. She clearly has the talent and artistry to do so. Financially she benefits way more by staying under Hybe than going independent.
Hybe financial reports actually has been strange for this few years. Obviously with bts their sales is highest compared to the big 3. But somehow their profit is among the lowest, almost the same as jyp’s. So there is suspicion that either they’re evading taxes, faking financial report, embezzling money, or money laundry among other things. Min heejin was probably able to fight because she knows those secrets
Their financial report is standard. They have healthy amount of debt, good operating profit for each quarter. Most people are mixing up net income and operating profit, while both are markers of financial situation, they aren’t the same. Yes, with BTS out of commission and the situation with New Jeans being at a standatill, its down but that’s expected. Don’t be surprised if Min Hee Jin situation ends without any changes or significant impact to HYBE and with a whimper rather than a bang.
Are you meaning profit for the last year? BTS members were in army, while JYP’s groups, Twice, Itzy and Stray kids, made tours and group comebacks. And the way Hybe releasing new groups, doing survival shows and buying shares of others companies, I guess they could spent many money on that.
Well, it’s just my thought, as I don’t know details about their profit things.