Ok-pop is within the midst of its largest international second but, however because the trade scales new heights, questions are rising about whether or not its enterprise practices and moral requirements are holding tempo. A current courtroom ruling in South Korea has introduced this challenge into sharp focus.
On July 22, 2025, the Seoul Southern District Court docket discovered three former staff of HYBE’s affiliate labels, Supply Music, BigHit Music and Belift Lab, responsible of insider buying and selling. Prosecutors revealed that the staff offered HYBE inventory utilizing undisclosed details about BTS’s forthcoming army enlistment, a transfer that violated South Korea’s Capital Markets Act.
The case facilities on HYBE’s dramatic inventory plunge on June 14, 2022, the day BTS introduced by way of their official YouTube channel that they’d pause group actions to meet South Korea’s necessary army service necessities. The information despatched HYBE’s shares tumbling almost 25% in a single day, erasing roughly 1.5 trillion KRW (about $1.5 billion) in market worth. In accordance with prosecutors, the three staff, who had been nonetheless on workers at HYBE’s subsidiary labels on the time, had entry to inside experiences in regards to the announcement earlier than it went public. They allegedly offered their shares upfront to sidestep
the looming monetary hit.
Consequently, the courtroom handed down suspended jail sentences to all three former staff. A former Supply Music staffer (recognized as “A”) acquired a 10-month jail time period, suspended for 2 years, together with a superb of roughly 231 million KRW (round $168,000 USD). The opposite two, who beforehand labored at BigHit Music and Belift Lab (“B” and “C”), had been every sentenced to 6 months in jail, additionally suspended for 2 years and fined 51 million KRW (about $37,000 USD) and 65 million KRW (about $48,000 USD). As well as, all three had been ordered to forfeit the complete quantity they’d profited by avoiding inventory losses.
In its ruling, the courtroom said, “An artist’s exercise schedule is very confidential info that instantly impacts an leisure firm’s income. Utilizing that info for private achieve is a critical offense that undermines market integrity and deserves public condemnation.”
In accordance with a report by Music Enterprise Worldwide, HYBE’s U.S. PR company Tag PR initially said on July 24 that “the people in query aren’t staff of HYBE.” Nevertheless, on July 25, HYBE’s international communications group in Seoul clarified to MBW that every one three people had been certainly former staff of HYBE’s affiliate labels. The corporate added that “they’ve all already left their positions” and that “Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has no private ties to them.”
Associated
Even because the insider buying and selling scandal was nonetheless making headlines, HYBE was hit with one other main controversy. On July 29, the Seoul Regional Tax Workplace’s 4th Bureau of Investigation launched a tax audit into the corporate’s headquarters. The probe is reportedly inspecting allegations that HYBE founder and chairman Bang Si-hyuk used a personal fund he managed to accumulate shares earlier than the corporate’s 2019 IPO, later securing vital earnings as soon as the inventory went public.
With three former staff lately convicted of insider buying and selling, public scrutiny has now shifted towards Bang himself, as each instances contain questions surrounding HYBE’s IPO and the dealing with of delicate monetary info. The outcomes of this investigation and any ensuing authorized motion are anticipated to attract intense consideration from the worldwide music and enterprise industries alike.
Regardless of the continued controversies surrounding HYBE, BTS continues to interrupt information on the worldwide music stage. In accordance with Billboard’s chart story revealed on July 28, the group’s first official dwell album, PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – LIVE, debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Aug. 2. This milestone marks BTS’s sixteenth album to look on the Billboard 200, with eight of these releases touchdown within the prime 10, probably the most for any Korean act.
In the meantime, the members’ solo careers are thriving. Jin, contemporary from his army discharge, has kicked off his first solo fan live performance world tour, the Run Seokjin Tour (#RUNSEOKJIN_EP. TOUR), which incorporates 18 reveals throughout 9 cities. Earlier this yr, J-Hope wrapped up his debut solo world tour, performing 31 reveals in 15 cities, and he’s set to headline Lollapalooza Berlin this August.
As Ok-pop’s international highlight burns brighter than ever, the cracks beneath the floor have gotten more durable to disregard. For the trade’s hard-won achievements to endure, its techniques and moral requirements should evolve simply as rapidly as its cultural affect. If Ok-pop goals to maintain its place as a world powerhouse, it faces a defining query: As Ok-pop continues to develop, is it actually taking root in sincere floor?
