Hive CEO: "SM Offshore Tax Evasion, an Impossible Scenario"

SM ESG Campaign to Be Operated More Transparently
Taking on Heavy Responsibility with SM Acquisition

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As SM Entertainment CEO Lee Sungsoo raised allegations of offshore tax evasion by former Chief Producer Lee Soo-man, HYBE CEO Park Jiwon directly stepped in to quell the situation, calling it a "scenario that could never happen."

Park Ji-won, CEO of HYBE.
Photo by HYBE

According to the music industry on the 17th, CEO Park sent an internal email to all employees that morning stating, "The news from the past few days is merely about past issues between former Chief Producer Lee and the current management, and these issues will not be valid in the future where HYBE and SM will be transparently led according to principles."

Earlier, on the previous day, SM CEO Lee Sungsoo revealed a list of 14 expos?s on YouTube and disclosed some allegations including Lee Soo-man's offshore tax evasion suspicions.

CEO Park emphasized, "The company (HYBE) did not rule out the possibility of other transactions unknown to us besides Like Planning," adding, "Therefore, we inserted comprehensive clauses in the contract to suspend or terminate all transactions between former Chief Producer Lee Soo-man and SM as of the transaction date."

He also added, "We chose a method to block all transactions that should have been disclosed but might not have been, which we had not yet identified."

CEO Park drew a clear line, saying, "The 'unethical operation method' of offshore tax evasion of SM's profits through CTP, as claimed by SM's current management, is a scenario that could never happen because the premise itself is invalid due to the share acquisition agreement. Once again, I state that there is no involvement of (Lee Soo-man) in SM producing through overseas producing or profit transfers through transactions with overseas subsidiaries."

He stated, "SM's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) campaign will be operated more transparently and legally in accordance with the standards that a global company and a leading company in the K-pop industry must uphold once the share acquisition process is completed," and added, "As a company rooted in music and artist IP (intellectual property) competitiveness and leading the global entertainment industry, we are undertaking this acquisition process with a heavy sense of responsibility."

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