HYBE Allegedly Accidentally Admits To Sajaegi For Album Sales

He claimed that the company did not agree with it.

HYBE‘s representatives attended an audit with the National Assembly on October 24, 2024. During the audit, the matter of sajaegi was brought up when HYBE‘s COO, who is also Belift Lab‘s CEO Kim Tae Ho, was on the hot seat.

At first, Kim Tae Ho denied having conducted sajaegi through bulk-buying and returning CDs, only to be shown a corporate exchange in an internal HYBE channel about plans for the matter.

Kim Tae Ho: “We have never done deals where we buy up albums on the condition of returning them later [in order to push numbers].”

Assemblyman: “Then we will show you an internal document. There is an email dated February 4, 2023. If you look here, it clearly states ‘returns proceedings project.”

Kim Tae Ho: “The content you have shown is regarding what I have just mentioned. The albums that were sold in 2023, were returned in 2024, and after reviewing this, in the future we will no longer be using such methods for sales.”

Assemblyman: “Let me show you one more [document]. An additional order of a minimum of 70,000 albums bought on the condition of returns, with the maximum purchase being 200,000. What is this about?”

Kim Tae Ho: “After we received many queries about such things, we have realized that we cannot do this and-”

Assemblyman: “So are you saying that you have been doing this all this while, but right now you’re not?”

Kim Tae Ho: “As I have said previously, this is not our company’s direction. However, we have confirmed that a portion of the staff decided to use this returns method, and in accordance with our company’s rules, we have laid down guidelines to prevent this from happening in the future.”

Although Kim Tae Ho has admitted to some of the staff members using the returns method to push sales after being shown documented evidence, he continued to claim that the company itself does not agree with it and ergo has never tried to conduct sajaegi to push numbers. His contrary words have led to fans believing that he accidentally admitted to the suspicions.

The particular sajaegi method of bulk purchase and returning stocks can be read up on below.

Netizens Call For Investigations To Be Launched Against All HYBE Groups After Explosive Chart Manipulation Accusation

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