Bang Si Hyuk, president of HYBE, attended a training forum held at the Jung-gu Press Center in Seoul on the morning of March 15.
Bang Si Hyuk started his speech by saying: “Before talking about the SM acquisition, I want to congratulate BoA on their successful 20th Anniversary Concert last weekend. It is true that entertainment agencies have played a major role in elevating K-pop to this position nowadays. And no one can deny that artists have led the industry.”
he confessed, “Even when the acquisition was seen as competition, the artists suffered greatly in their positions and the fans always supported their artists. While there may have been a better acquisition for us, Kakao, or the artists and fans, I don’t think we’ve been able to protect the artists and fans in the process.”.
The chairman also added “I didn’t see this acquisition as competition, but it did create painful management issues nonetheless. I’m sorry for this reason. Our essence is the happiness of artists and fans. I was very sad about the last problem and couldn’t sleep well.”
Bang Si Hyuk continued, “Similarly, I find it difficult to agree with those who see this acquisition as a win-lose competition. Of course, from the viewpoint of the audience, it can be something interesting. While there may be a winner and a loser, we should not approach this acquisition with the intention of defeating or harming others. We only assessed it based on future values and considered the situation as a publicly traded company.”
He also laughed, adding: “Even as I say this, many will still think that our company tried hard but lost to the competition”.
Then he continued, “I have already said that we have a very long road map. We wanted to combine the traditional axis and fandom in one place, focusing on intellectual property and items, and then make a difference in lifestyle with the platform.”
“I am personally satisfied with the result because we achieved it thanks to the consultation with Kakao,” he concluded.
source: Nate
