Min Hee Jin Testifies How HYBE’s Bang Si Hyuk Practically Begged Her To Join
Min Hee Jin, former CEO of ADOR, explained the circumstances under which she joined Big Hit Music, the predecessor of HYBE.
On November 27, the 31st Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court held the third hearing for the lawsuit concerning the confirmation of the termination of the shareholders’ agreement between Min Hee Jin and HYBE, as well as Min Hee Jin’s put option claim against HYBE.
On that day, Min personally appeared in court for her examination as a party to the case. In particular, during questioning, she became overwhelmed with emotion and shed tears. She talked about how she was courted by Bang Si Hyuk after she left her role at SM Entertainment.
“I resigned from SM Entertainment on December 31, 2018. HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk contacted me on January 2, 2019. When I asked how he knew just two days after I left the company, he said there were like informants inside SM who had found out about my resignation. He said he had thought I was ‘SM personified,’ so he hadn’t expected me to leave, and that he was glad I had. He strongly courted me, saying he wanted to recruit me as talent.”
Bang Si Hyuk wanted to create a girl group, but had no confidence due to previous failed attempts. That was why he was convinced that he needed Min Hee Jin.
“He talked about his vision as well. Based on his distrust of the existing entertainment industry and his criticism of SM Entertainment, he said he wanted to try to reform the business. He said he wanted to do a girl group, but that he had failed badly before with GLAM together with So Sung Jin of Source Music. Since he had no confidence in girl groups, he needed me. At the time, I was also considering an offer from Kakao Entertainment.”
Min also shared that she later had a meal with Chairman Bang and he allegedly almost got down on his knees to recruit her.
“By coincidence, my parents called me, and he told my father, ‘I will make sure your daughter can do what she wants and do it well,’ and ‘I really want her to come to our company.’ Because he had been a long-time fan of mine, he said he wanted to work with me — it was a situation where he was practically getting down on his knees to ask.”
Min said that, moved by Bang’s sincerity at the time, she decided to join HYBE.
“If I went to Kakao Entertainment, there would have been too many things for me to pioneer and too many things that needed sorting out. I thought that if someone believed in me and allowed me to do what I wanted, it would be fine. Si Hyuk said he would give me unlimited support. After the dispute with HYBE arose, even my parents were heartbroken.”
Min continues her legal fight against HYBE. You may read more about previous updates below.
