HYBE‘s CEO Park Ji Won was previously a part of Nexon Korea. He was the former COO before moving on to becoming the CEO of HYBE. Although he had much business success with Nexon, he also previously came under controversy with the game Sudden Attack 2.
Park Ji Won joined Nexon Korea in 2003, and later rose in ranks to become the COO in 2014. He joined BigHit Entertainment in 2020, rising to the CEO position in 2021. Fans have criticized him for his goals of making money from consumers in the short term. A post by a Chinese netizen on Weibo revealed his controversy. His game, Sudden Attack 2, came under fire for overly sexualizing its female characters.
“Just who is HYBE’s current CEO Park Ji Won?
He graduated from the department of political science and government of Yonsei University, and joined Nexon in 2003. He became the representative director of Nexon Korea in 2014. Sudden Attack 2 was an ambitious game launched in 2016. The game experienced a huge controversy and eventually was discontinued in less than 3 months. He joined BigHit in 2020, and became the CEO of HYBE in 2021. I heard that he is best at making money from consumers within a short period.
— Netizen
Some of the examples given included unnecessary positions in which the female characters would fall in.
They also made the female characters straddle men.
Revealing outfits, showing butt cheeks, uncanny placement of breasts, etc, these were just the tip of the iceberg.
Fans have grown worried, and are calling for girl groups to be saved.
This is why you shouldn’t stan a campany. Save the girls in that company. https://t.co/Zi5dC6USZe pic.twitter.com/rQlq0rtBys
— LunaWinter (@Cristin1568358) April 27, 2024
oh get him away from these girls https://t.co/I52303Gx5n pic.twitter.com/EpK7GNoiQw
— (@andfuckbills) April 27, 2024
Fans have also had a problem with him in the past for how he talked about various boy groups.
never liked when he talked about bts but he’s an even bigger incel freak than i thought https://t.co/fT9oIP5YyM pic.twitter.com/PucTtiT72B
— ju⁷ (@smokesprit) April 27, 2024
Many video games globally contain sexual elements to appeal to the male audience. This speaks volumes about just how bad Sudden Attack 2 was, for it to be shut down 3 months in.
do you know how much of a freak you have to be for your video game to get banned over the sexualisation of women in it??? https://t.co/HCyOHRgv0d
— rose な子・ローズ (@kalistagf) April 27, 2024
The controversy surrounding HYBE is only getting deeper and deeper.
even though I’m not a fan of every gg on there but someone needs to take all those girls in that company and move them to a safer environment… hybe is literally filled with greedy psychopaths and misogynistic men https://t.co/PxJrsMiYES
— ce soir (@JlMlNFOREVER) April 27, 2024
HYBE has yet to respond to these allegations.
