Bang Si-Hyuk was threatened to be arrested after gaining 200 billion won ($136m) in an investor fraud scheme. Prosecutors decided that there wasn’t enough reasoning to warrant an arrest at this time and denied the police’s request. 

Bang runs a K-pop company named Hybe which builds and supports several Korean group artists. Bang is behind hit songs like Bangtan Sonyeondan’s (BTS) “Butter” and “Dynamite”, Le Sserafim’s “Antifragile” and “Spaghetti”, Illit’s “Magnetic” and “Jellyous”, Enhypen’s “Drunk-Dazed” and many more. He started his debut working with JYP Entertainment, with former CEO Park Jin-young, and left to create Big-Hit Entertainment, now known as Hybe. During this time,  he created groups such as BTS, Katseye, Enhypen, Le Sserafim, TXT, New Jeans, Illit, and more. 

In 2019, Korean authorities accused Bang of fooling his investors “by claiming a public listing for his [assorted] Hybe was not likely, while secretly preparing for it.” according to BBC. Bang, who is now worth around $3.2 billion (4.7 trillion won), allegedly pocketed $136 million (200 billion won). He stated that these charges are false. The case against him has been long running, with actions such as raids at Hybe, frozen assets, and messages for him to step down as chairman. 

The request for the arrest warrant was weeks after BTS, Hybe’s step to success, launched their comeback “Arirang” and tour after being on a hiatus for four years while off in the military. This added over $6.7 million (1 trillion won) to Hybe’s market value. 

K-pop fans seem to have trouble with this man and the company in general. Multiple videos have been posted on social media saying “I hate Hybe” or “Hybe Criticized for…” among fans after several instances of mistreatment among idols. Things such as abuse of trainees, mistreatment, racism, kicking out members, constant health problems, long hiatuses, not properly trained idols, not promoting groups, and toxicity have caused distaste in the community towards Hybe.