"Exploiting Fan Loyalty"... HYBE Tops Consumer Damage Relief Applications Among Entertainment Agencies

Among Major 5 Companies, HYBE Accounts for 66% of Damage Relief Applications
"Hinders Consumers' Rational Choice... Institutional Measures Needed"

Among major domestic entertainment agencies, Hive was found to have the highest number of consumer damage relief applications.

On the 22nd, the office of Lee Jung-moon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, cited data received from the Korea Consumer Agency, revealing that from 2020 to August of this year, a total of 240 damage relief applications were filed over the past five years against five entertainment agencies (Hive, Kakao Entertainment, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment).

Among these, 159 cases were related to Hive, accounting for 66% of the total. Kakao Entertainment followed with 36 cases, SM Entertainment with 29 cases, and JYP Entertainment with 16 cases.

Consumer consultations received by the Consumer Agency also showed Hive had the highest number among the five entertainment agencies. Of the total 1,195 consumer consultations received over the past five years, 672 were related to Hive, accounting for 56.2%.

Next were SM with 282 cases, Kakao Entertainment with 157 cases, JYP Entertainment with 77 cases, and YG Entertainment with 7 cases.

Hive Headquarters Photo by Yonhap News

Looking at cases of consumer damage relief applications, many refund requests were related to defects in idol merchandise products, delivery delays, and exclusive content streaming platforms.

In the case of Mr. A, after discovering a defect in an album box and requesting an exchange, the entertainment agency guided him to provide photographic evidence of the defect for an exchange. However, even after submitting the photos, the exchange was repeatedly refused. Mr. A demanded a refund due to the defect in the album box.

Mr. B regularly paid 100,000 KRW per month to use a mobile content platform operated by an entertainment agency. In February, when he requested a refund of the remaining payment balance of 258,410 KRW in cash on the platform, the agency informed him that only 49,239 KRW could be refunded after deducting certain amounts.

Mr. B claimed, “I was never informed in advance about the deductions, which included non-refundable amounts, used event cash, and refund fees.”

Rep. Lee said, “The extreme profit-seeking by entertainment agencies exploiting fans’ loyalty ultimately undermines consumers’ reasonable right to choose,” adding, “Institutional monitoring and management are necessary to ensure that K-pop fans can also be guaranteed proper consumer rights.”

Earlier in August, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it would impose corrective orders and fines totaling 10.5 million KRW on four idol merchandise sellers, including Weverse Company, for obstructing withdrawal of subscription requests. This is the first time the Fair Trade Commission has simultaneously issued corrective orders against withdrawal obstruction by four major domestic entertainment companies.

The four businesses are ▲Weverse Shop ▲SM Town & Store ▲YG Select ▲Jip Shop. These shopping malls are operated by subsidiaries of the major agencies: Weverse Company (Weverse Shop) under Hive, SM Brand Marketing (SM Town & Store) under SM Entertainment, JYP 360 (Jip Shop) under JYP Entertainment, and YG Plus (YG Select) under YG Entertainment.

They were found to have applied exchange and refund conditions much more strictly than legal regulations, effectively obstructing withdrawal of subscription requests.

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