BTS' tearful "hiatus" dinner found to have been pre-filmed 3 wks before White House visit + HYBE under suspicion of illegal "non-disclosure" and "insider trading"

Article: 'BTS 'tearful' party turns out was filmed 3 weeks before.. HYBE under suspicion

Source: Joongang Ilbo

BTS' "hiatus" dinner is raising suspicions about HYBE's alleged "illegal" activities.

On the 14th, BTS held their 'BTS Festa' on the official YouTube channel and many mistook the stream to be a "live." However, it appears the video was pre-filmed before BTS went to visit U.S President Joe Biden at the White House.

The evidence was discovered in BTS' video where Suga is seen stating, "By the time this comes out, we would've been to the White House." In other words, since BTS' departure date from the U.S was the 29th of last month, the video filming date was earlier than that. If we take into account the members photos released on IG, it can be estimated that the filming was around the 20th or 21st of last month.

The issue is there's a 2-3 week lag from when they filmed the dinner and when the video was released. There is no issue with any idol choosing to pre-film their video however BTS is a key source of revenue for HYBE who's publicly listed and BTS' words in the video that day that they "plan to focus on solo activities" cast doubts on HYBE's profitability causing shock in the market.

In fact, the day after the video was released, HYBE's stock price plunged 24.87% and nearly 2 trillion won of market capitalization evaporated that day. This is why investors are referring to their 'Festa' as "2 trillion won dinner." BTS may have been able to convey their sincerity to fans but not to investors who were bound to raise complaints whether an idol group should be releasing such critical information of a listed company through a YouTube video that was pre-filmed 2-3 weeks before.

The stock market was expecting a rebound due to BTS' new album and 9th anniversary celebrations however despite their new album topping various domestic and foreign music charts, HYBE's stock price is plummeting and many are starting to analyze the cause, with rumors all leading back to BTS. 

This is because if there's too much lag between when critical decisions and announcements are made, there's also increased risks of internal information being leaked and coincidentally, HYBE's stock price fell nearly 11% on the 13th, the day before they released their 'Festa' video and fell more than 3% on the 14th, when the video came out, hitting a new low for two consecutive days.

Hwang Se-woon, a researcher at Korea Capital Markets Institute stated, "The stock price fell sharply before the video release but if we take into account outside information together we can't definitely say it's all insider trading. But if private interests obtain such internal information and use it to avoid losses, then this this activity is subject to punishment."

HYBE has a crisis management team that's supposed to manage artists to avoid such unsavory accidents happening but the team failed in predicting the impact of BTS' 'Festa' dinner content. An analyst stated, "It's hard to understand how a company can work this way. HYBE's response, as a leader of publicly listed entertainment companies, is adversely affecting the entire industry."

It's unclear why HYBE didn't previously examine the impact of BTS disclosing such critical information during their "tearful dinner" or why they overlooked it. The Joongang Ilbo tried to ask HYBE about this and all we got was, "it's difficult to explain."

The Times, a British newspaper also revealed a 3-page feature of BTS dinner titled, "Why the World's biggest boyband split" and asked whether it's reasonable for a publicly listed company to announce such critical issues through YouTube. The Korea Exchange also requires certain information to be "disclosed" to investors and since BTS accounts for about 70% of HYBE sales, a declaration like that is considered critical. Of course it's difficult to apply changes in behavior by idol groups to manufacturers, however it's inappropriate for HYBE to have failed to disclose such critical information that would greatly affect company sales.

Lee Changmin, a professor of business administration at Hanyang University stated, "BTS plans and activities are just as important as the Hyundai's shutdown of its factory. This is something that has never happened at the company before so they should've definitely disclosed it."

An official from Securities' industry who asked not to be identified also pointed out, "For a group that's responsible for most of the company's revenue to make such a decision and reveal it through YouTube with such a huge lag from pre-filming, of course it would be a problem in the capital market."

Another official stated, "Even if it's not directly listed as a disclosure item, they should've disclosed it because they have a duty to protect their investors."

HYBE's crisis management team is being put to the test as this isn't the first time they've been under fire. The way they're handling Le Sserafim Garam's "bullying" scandal is also causing controversy. 

1. [+748, -139] Well, seeing as they're avid Moon Jae-in followers, of course that's all they learned.
2. [+426, -65] They're pissed because BTS didn't get exempted ㅋㅋ
3. [+307, -37] Probably thought military exemptions would go well with the public... clearly they misjudged things. 
4. [+228, -29] Send them to Dokdo Guards. That would really show their patriotic duty to the world.
5. [+148, -42] Seriously, why are they like this?
6. [+188, -55] They're really good at destroying themselves.. just why?
7. [+116, -10] It's natural they're suspected on trading on "insider information"... BTS is their absolute main source of revenue and accounts for 70% of HYBE's sales. They knew if BTS halted activities, the company's stock price would plummet and shareholder doubts would grow. The Financial Supervisory Service needs to launch investigations into HYBE's stock trading history of its employees including those that were involved in producing that video.
8. [+103, -15] They shouldn't have gone this far with their greed dreaming of things they shouldn't. They got popular from music and dance and already made so much money.. that should've been enough.
9. [+86, -15] They're already generating so much in profits and are being greedy with military exemptions too.
10. [+59, -2] Looks like even BTS shields are tired.. 
11. [+55, -2] So the gist of the article is they're implying HYBE officials sold their stocks in the 3 weeks when the members pre-filmed the dinner.. 
12. [+53, -7] We need to investigate whether BTS members sold their stocks during this time too..
13. [+40, -0] HYBE is a mess and their staffs are trash.. guys please do research before investing!!