“Get Him On GQ, Not Time”: HYBE’s Internal Document Reveals Plan To Make Bang Si Hyuk More “Likable”

This article is part of our coverage of HYBE Internal Documents Scandal. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.

In another round of the shocking “reports” being leaked, one section in particular revealed HYBE’s elaborate plan to make its chairman, Bang Si Hyuk, more “likable” in comparison to other K-Pop powerhouse names like J.Y. Park (Park Jin Young) and Lee Soo Man.

HYBE Chairman Bang Si Hyuk | @hitmanb72/Instagram

The section, drafted on November 30, 2022, reported on a Prime Video documentary being produced to feature SM Entertainment founder and former CEO Lee Soo Man.

SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo Man | Prime Video

After scheming to sabotage the production “for fun,” the document compares Lee Soo Man and JYP Entertainment‘s J.Y. Park to Bang Si Hyuk.

| HYBE

A documentary titled ‘Lee Soo Man: The King of K-Pop‘ is set to be produced for Amazon Prime. Most reactions so far suggest he reminds them of the Japanese Johnny’s CEO, and some comments even question whether the documentary will include his involvement with the Interpol, as well as the suspicions of preferential outsourcing to his private business. Since it’s for Amazon Prime, it’s clear this content isn’t primarily for the Korean audience. If this approach continues, SM Entertainment’s management and producers in the post-Lee Soo Man era will likely face significant internal conflicts. It would be fun if there could be a way to create conflict and bring those issues to light.

— HYBE Document

The document highlights the need to make Bang Si Hyuk more “likable,” amid J.Y. Park prioritizing his own career and Lee Soo Man basking in self-admiration.

Bang (left) with JYP Entertainment’s J.Y. Park (right) | @hitmanb72/Instagram

In fact, the document maps out an elaborate plan for making Bang Si Hyuk more likable—and then it goes on to praise him as a “paradigm-shifting game changer”:

| HYBE

While J.Y. Park insists on holding a concert at the end of the year, and Lee Soo Man is unable to let go of his self-admiration, it seems necessary for Si Hyuk-nim to gradually play a more ‘likable’ role. Since the other two are continuously promoting themselves, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to plan a long-term approach where overseas magazines highlight [Bang Si Hyuk] during major events at the U.S. branch. For example, instead of the Fortune or the Time magazines, it could be something like GQ highlighting him. The first sentence should be something like, ‘He is not the king of K-Pop.’ The idea is to emphasize his role as a game-changer who breaks genre boundaries and shifts the paradigm.

— HYBE Document

This section has since garnered much attention online, with K-Pop fans interpreting it as “key evidence” that the reports were, at the core, written “to please Bang Si Hyuk.”

| theqoo

• “Likable? LMAO.”
• “Is that why he keeps photoshopping his pictures used in his articles…? Is that a part of being likable?”
• “His a*s is going to develop rashes from all the a*s kissing going on.”

| theqoo

• “This is beyond what I imagined. For real… I’m nauseous.”
• “I think this section actually serves as key evidence. It tells us who these reports were written for. Who would be the most important person seeing these? You can immediately see the purpose of these reports even existing.”
• “Are they out of their minds?”

| theqoo

• “Wow… It makes me want to vomit thinking about how satisfied Bang must have been after reading this.”
• “How are we supposed to like a fat man in love with an adult streamer? LMAO. His entire being is abominable.”
• “So these reports have been written specifically to float Bang’s boat.”

Meanwhile, the executive who was in charge of these documents have been removed. Read more about it here:

HYBE Reportedly Removes Executive In Charge Of “Internal Documents”