Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE, Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Seoul National University... 'First in Popular Culture'

First Degree Awarded Among Public Culture Figures
Praised for "Innovative Music Industry System Development"

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, received an honorary doctorate from Seoul National University. On the 28th, at the awarding ceremony held at Seoul National University, President Oh Se-jung is presenting the diploma to Chairman Bang Si-hyuk. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Seoul National University announced on the 28th that it awarded an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration to Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of the board of HYBE, the agency of the group BTS.

Seoul National University explained that the degree was awarded in consideration of Bang Si-hyuk, founder and entrepreneur of HYBE, who grew HYBE into a global company and contributed to the expansion and innovation of Korea's cultural and arts industry.

Bang is the first person in the field of popular culture to receive an honorary doctorate from Seoul National University. According to Seoul National University's degree awarding regulations, those who have made special contributions to academic development or significant achievements in the improvement of human culture can receive an honorary doctorate.

Bang attended the degree awarding ceremony held at the Seoul National University Faculty Club at 11 a.m. on the day and said, "Since I did not study business administration through a formal education curriculum, I sometimes experienced failure on the front lines of business management," adding, "Through this, I acquired knowledge and lessons and realized that the essence of a company is to survive and grow with a long-term vision."

He continued, "The primary goal of a company must be survival," adding, "A company must survive to pursue both qualitative and quantitative growth, and in this process, it can create employment and ultimately improve problems as tasks assigned by society and meet customer demands."

Regarding the direction HYBE will take in the future with the 'reopening,' Bang cited ▲ considerations on the convergence of technology and culture ▲ research on the future music industry. He added, "I will contemplate and uphold the essence of a company and take responsibility for my role as an entrepreneur and manager."

In a recommendation, Graduate School Dean Choi Haecheon said, "HYBE pioneered a new era of fan communities where people worldwide can participate in diverse cultural activities by developing an innovative music industry system," and introduced, "I believe that Bang's academic efforts in aesthetics during his university days greatly supported his current achievements." Bang graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Aesthetics, College of Humanities, as the second highest in his class.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.