HYBE Responds to ADOR’s Claims of Illegal Audit

HYBE has categorically denied allegations made by ADOR on May 10, which accused the company of conducting a late-night audit at a female employee’s residence in a coercive atmosphere. 

In a counterclaim, HYBE alleged that ADOR had provided substantial financial benefits and gifts to employees, totaling hundreds of millions of won. HYBE firmly rejects any wrongdoing and denies ADOR’s version of events.

In a press release on May 10, HYBE refuted the allegations, stating, “The audit, of a team leader of ADOR, conducted by our audit team on the evening of May 9, was conducted legally, with the consent of the auditee, in a non-coercive atmosphere.”

Regarding Claims of Late-night Audit and Following Female Employee to Her Home

HYBE clarified that the audit began outside the working hours, stating, “The team leader came to work at the company yesterday at 6 PM. The audit began when she was contacted by the audit team while commuting to work,” and added, “The team leader responded that she would respond to the audit starting at 7 PM.”

HYBE revealed that the team leader acknowledged receiving large sums of money and gifts from the label, approved by CEO Min Hee Jin. She agreed to submit her laptop, which she had left at home, and the HYBE’s female employees escorted her to collect it, with her full consent.

Regarding Claims of Requesting Personal Phone Submission

ADOR accused that HYBE collected the employee’s phone besides the laptop, which is a personal asset. In response to the allegation, the agency revealed that CEO Min Hee Jin and some ADOR executives are only using personal KakaoTalk for work conversations, not the company’s official channel. 

Therefore, the audit team asked the employee to share her phone data, but the team leader didn’t respond, and no further requests were made.

Regarding claims of Embezzlement

HYBE criticized Min Hee Jin for giving a huge sum of money to employees, “There is no practice in which a company’s full-time employees directly profit hundreds of millions of won from advertisers.”

The agency pointed out that the CEO’s actions were not only unethical but also illegal. Allowing company sales to be secretly diverted for personal gain over several years is a clear violation of laws, and not just a matter of poor ethics.

It was revealed no action was taken by the ADOR CEO, stating, “Moreover, as a CEO, CEO Min has not taken any follow-up measures, such as recovery or punishment for illegally received amounts.”

They hoped that unfair profits and financial gain received by the team leader will be clearly revealed during the future investigation.

Lastly, HYBE strongly condemned CEO Min Hee Jin for spreading misinformation to the public through a statement based on false facts. They expressed regret for not protecting the privacy of the team leader involved, as they had no intention of disclosing this matter to the media. The audit was focused on ADOR employees, not executives, and the agency had chosen not to make it public. 

However, HYBE shared that CEO Min’s statement unnecessarily drew national attention to the fact that employees were being audited, which ultimately put them in the spotlight.