Park Jiwon Mentions Min Hee-jin's ADOR Value

Park Ji-won, former CEO of HYBE, spoke for the first time about the put option dispute ruling between HYBE and Min Hee-jin, former CEO of ADOR, in a recent interview with Newsis. He expressed regret that the court's decision was based on isolated remarks, failing to fully reflect the actual context of the conversations at the time. He particularly emphasized that the statement, "Without Min Hee-jin, ADOR's value is zero," was merely a negotiation tactic to calm down the subsidiary's CEO, and that it's impossible for a company to become an empty shell just because one CEO changes. At the time, Min was demanding a 30-fold increase in the share purchase price during the renegotiation of the shareholders' agreement. Park explained that while he found this unacceptable, he made the remark in a conciliatory manner to keep the negotiation channels open.

Park revealed that when Min showed intentions to seize management control by meeting with external investors, slandering HYBE, and using the artists' parents to send protest emails, he initially found it hard to believe. However, through internal investigations, he discovered documents like 'Project 1945,' which included plans for a public relations campaign to attack artists from other labels. He defended himself by saying, "I didn't realize there was an intention to attack the company to make them sell their shares," and that he did not fully grasp Min's intentions at the time. Furthermore, regarding the "album pushing" allegations based on KakaoTalk messages used as evidence by the court, he clearly stated, "​It was simply a proposal for a marketing strategy to clear excess inventory due to failed demand forecasting, not album sales manipulation." He cited an example where Min held fan signing events to boost sales after 150,000 copies piled up in inventory with a Japanese distributor, arguing that perfect demand forecasting is impossible and promotions to compensate for it are normal business activities. He added that sales with the condition of return are also a normal contract type, and that internal controls had been strengthened before Min raised the issue.

Park expressed that the most regrettable aspect of this incident is the breakdown of trust between investors and producers in the entertainment industry. He diagnosed that the core of the multi-label system is fair competition and trust, but this incident has damaged its foundation, making it difficult for investors to guarantee high autonomy and significant rewards for producers. He stated that the entertainment industry is inherently a risk-taking industry, and this ruling has further frozen the investment environment by highlighting the risk associated with individuals. He concluded the interview by saying, "Industry growth is impossible in a place where trust between people has collapsed," and expressed his hope that this incident will serve as an opportunity for the entertainment industry to mature. Park, who comes from the gaming and IT industries and previously served as CEO of Nexon Korea, is recognized for significantly growing HYBE's revenue and operating profit by more than double after joining the company, and for laying the groundwork for the multi-label system and global business expansion.