HYBE eyes ‘A Brand New Day’ with the return of BTS and a possible world tour

NewJeans might be a pain in the backside for HYBE, but the K-pop powerhouse has one big relief pitcher to look forward to: the return of all BTS members in June.

Members Jin and J-Hope have been actively releasing solo music since they finished their military duties in June and October last year, respectively, while V, Jungkook, Jimin and RM will finish in June. When Suga is discharged on June 21, all seven will have fulfilled their obligations and will be free to make their long-awaited return to the K-pop throne.

Onlookers initially wagered on a new album to come by the end of the year and a world tour to begin soon after, or early next year. HYBE refuses to give a definite timeline on when a full-strength BTS will make its much-anticipated comeback, as is the wise move for the agency rather than making a promise it can’t keep.

Still, the company’s CEO, Lee Jae-sang, revealed that the company is already “in talks with top-tier songwriters” and preparing for the group’s new music.

“The members of BTS are going to finish their military duties within the first half of this year and return to their activities,” Lee said during the company’s annual shareholder meeting held in western Seoul on Monday.

“But they need time to prepare for their music. We are in talks with top-tier songwriters but the artists also need time to think and prepare themselves.”

“A tour date is usually set after [an artist] finishes their music,” he continued when asked when the tour will begin. “Since BTS members have already marked themselves as global artists, we are consistently talking about the next step and their visions, which means that we will also need to think about our strategies in accordance with that direction.”

HYBE weathered the BTS-less years better than expected, but still saw a 38 percent dip in operating profit in 2024 compared to 2023, from 295.6 billion won ($201.4 million) to 184 billion won. During the same period, net profit nose-dived from 183.5 billion won in 2023 to a 3.4 billion won net loss in 2024.

Analysts expect the struggles to continue through this year until BTS makes a grand move. But flip that narrative around and HYBE is looking at a maximum 54 percent jump in operating profit next year from the 326.3 billion won forecast for this year, according to analyst Hwang Ji-won of iM Securities.

“HYBE’s operating profit is expected to come in at 501.6 billion won with BTS’s world tour next year,” Hwang said in a report. “Taking into account the 2020 tour, which had to be shrunk due to Covid-19, then the upcoming tour is expected to draw in audiences totaling at least 3 million. The [group’s] online concert power is significant, which means that there could even be additional profit.”

The number aside, the return of a full-member BTS signals a much-needed celebration for the embattled K-pop behemoth, which didn’t even get to celebrate its meaningful 20th anniversary this year due to its past and ongoing troubles.

Last year, the company suffered two major blows: BTS member Suga getting a 15 million won fine for drunk-driving his electric scooter and a battle with the CEO and artists of its own subsidiary — the latter of which seems like it’s in for an unfortunately long ride into the coming days.

On Aug. 6 last year, Suga was found driving an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol in Yongsan District, central Seoul. At the time, he was also fulfilling his mandatory military service as a social service agent. Suga faced immense criticism but his agency BigHit Music also came under fire for allegedly attempting to minimize harm in the DUI case.

Repeated apologies and his appearance before the reporters at the police station pacified the angry mob, quelling the fallout from the incident.

But what didn’t die down was HYBE’s conflict with Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of girl group NewJeans’ agency ADOR, that began in April last year and ended up with Min getting ousted and the five singers of NewJeans walking out from the agency in November.

ADOR filed a court injunction and a lawsuit demanding that the singers come back, but the members argued that they are going to be called NJZ, not NewJeans. When the court sided with the label and ordered NewJeans members to return to the agency, the members instead announced on March 23 during their performance in Hong Kong that they are going to take time off from their activities without discussing it with ADOR.

The label and the singers’ attorney took part in the first hearing of their lawsuit on Thursday. The court will ultimately determine whether the members’ contracts with ADOR were legitimately terminated. HYBE will keep up its strategy to take “principled and reasonable measures” regarding NewJeans, according to the CEO.

“I told you in the shareholder meeting held last year that we will tackle our problems with calm and disciplined measures one by one, even if it takes time, based on principles,” Lee said on Monday. “I believe that we are seeing the fruits of those endeavors.”

HYBE quietly celebrated the 20th anniversary of its establishment in February. Now the largest music company in Korea, HYBE was established on Feb. 4 — then called Big Hit Entertainment — by Bang Si-hyuk, who had worked as a songwriter under JYP Entertainment from 1997. The company managed artists that followed Bang from JYP Entertainment until Big Hit Entertainment rolled out R&B trio 8eight in 2007 and presented its first boy band BTS in 2013. The rest is history.

HYBE is expected to keep a low profile for now. The company has not announced any 20th anniversary plans yet, but it has three new boy groups lined up for debut this year in Korea, Japan and the Latin American region. The company will also aim to debut a boy band in the United States next year, according to the iM Securities report.

“HYBE sees a good chance of its value going up with all members of BTS returning soon, added with the anticipation of the Chinese market opening to Korea,” said analyst Hazell Lee at NH Investment & Securities. “Should China open its market, then HYBE can hold large performances in the country for BTS and Seventeen. There are already pop-up stores opening up in major cities in the country and the paid Weverse platform service will also take full flight.”

HYBE will hold its annual music festival, Weverse Con Festival, at the Inspire Entertainment Resort on May 31 and June 1. The lineup so far includes &Team, 10CM, Chuu, Dreamcatcher, Fifty Fifty, Jeong Sun-ah, Kyuhyun, Lee Mu-jin, Lee Chang-sub, Lightsum, Lun8, Min Kyoung-ah, Nell, Nowadays, P1Harmony, QWER, Treasure and TWS.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]