Min Hee-jin Inspires Korean Women by Battling “K-pop Patriarchy”, Said British Media
British media site “Financial Times” claimed that ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin is being reconsidered by young women in Korea.
In an article titled “A star producer takes on the K-pop patriarchy” published on May 5 (local time), British media site “Financial Times” (hereinafter referred to as FT) wrote that Korean women interpret Min Hee-jin’s fight with HYBE as a woman confronting patriarchal workplaces and conflicts.
FT pointed out that Min’s verbal attack against HYBE executives during a press conference last week has garnered support from critics amid the criticism of male bosses in Korea, where women occupy only 6% of executive positions in the top 100 companies.
Particularly, Youn Hye-shin, 31, who works in the education sector in Seoul, confessed, “What Min is experiencing is what so many us go through every day in our male-dominated, hierarchical corporate culture”, adding, “She is saying out loud what we dream of saying.”
At the same time, FT described Min’s career trajectory, starting as an “entry-level graphic designer” in SM Entertainment in 2002 and joining HYBE as Chief Branding Officer in 2019. They also mentioned NewJeans’ second EP “Get Up”, which topped the Billboard 200 chart, creating a new trend like ‘easy listening’ in the K-pop industry, according to critics.
Among other things, FT also highlighted the recent escalation of conflict between HYBE and Min Hee-jin, including Min’s internal whistleblowing at HYBE and the plagiarism controversy surrounding NewJeans and ILLIT – the latest girl group of HYBE.
