The Rise Of HYBE’s Controversial CEO, Park Ji Won

As the K-Pop behemoth HYBE Labels has become embroiled in controversy after controversy in recent months, the current CEO of the corporation, Park Ji Won, has also come under scrutiny.

Though most came to know Park when he was appointed as HYBE’s CEO in 2021, his career actually started at the popular gaming company called Nexon. In 2003, Park Ji Won joined after graduating from the Department of Political Science and Government of the prestigious Yeonsei University. By 2009, he had become the head of the management planning office of Nexon Japan. In 2010, he became the Operating Officer and Director of Nexon Japan, which was a core department of Nexon Group at the time. A year later, Park made a significant contribution to Nexon Japan being listed on the Japanese stock market.

In 2012, Park was overseeing the global business of Nexon Korea, and two years later, in 2014, he was promoted to CEO of the company. This appointment was reportedly personally made by Nexon’s founder and chairman, Kim Jung Ju. Chairman Kim wanted to make some strong reforms within the company, and Park proved to be the right choice as he handled the operations of Nexon Korea with expertise. However, in 2019, when Kim tried to sell Nexon, the purchase fell through, and Park left the company in August, ending his 16-year association with the company.

In May 2020, he joined Big Hit Entertainment (now BIGHIT MUSIC) as the CEO of the headquarters. He was in charge of the domestic business of the label. On Jule 1, 2021, after HYBE was established, Bang stepped down from his role as the CEO, and Park took his place, which gave him the authority over all management strategy and operations for the artists under the multi-label corporation.

Throughout his tenure with HYBE, Park has never been the center of public attention, except in the past few months. After HYBE got engaged in a public feud with one of its subsidiaries, ADOR, and its CEO, Min Hee Jin, both parties came under strict public scrutiny. It was during this rift that fans unearthed Park’s controversial actions in his previous CEO role.

In 2016, Park launched an ambitious game, Sudden Attack 2, under Nexon, which was harshly criticized for its over-sexualization of female characters. Though essentially an action game, Sudden Attack 2 featured many a scene of female characters being put in sexual positions with the male characters or falling into unnecessary positions to expose their bodies.

The game was also called out for featuring extremely revealing outfits for the female characters and uncanny placement of breasts or displaying of butt cheeks, etc. These problems, however, netizens noted, were just the tip of the iceberg, which eventually sunk the ship of Sudden Attack 2, leading it to be discontinued within 3 months of its launch.

Since this controversy resurfaced, fans have grown increasingly concerned about the young female idols who are directly under the supervision of Park as the HYBE CEO. You can read more about it here.