HYBE Controversy Over Underreporting Annual Revenue and Paying Only Half of Plastic Waste Charge

According to the Korea Environment Corporation, HYBE generated approximately 1,397 tons of plastic waste in 2023 through the production of albums and merchandise for its artists. HYBE’s financial statements show that its revenue for 2023 was 2.178 trillion KRW.

However, HYBE entered its revenue from the previous year into the Corporation’s system as 2.178 billion KRW—1,000 times less than the actual figure.

As a result, the incorrectly assessed waste levy for HYBE was 149.64 million KRW, which was only about half of the 275.83 million KRW that HYBE was actually required to pay.

HYBE explained, “During the initial filing in May 2024, there was a clerical error due to a unit mistake in some documents. The Corporation assessed the levy based on this and notified us, and we completed payment in the same month.” The company added, “After the Corporation identified the clerical error, they issued an additional payment notice on October 11, and we completed the full payment on October 22, within the payment deadline.”