HYBE shares drop after Bang Si-hyuk spotted with streamer in LA

HYBE shares dropped after videos surfaced of Bang Si-hyuk with a female streamer in Los Angeles.

HYBE President Bang Si-hyuk and Afreeca TV streamer Se Yeon [SCREEN CAPTURE]

HYBE shares dropped 6.31 percent to 172,200 won ($125) on Friday after videos of founder and Chairman Bang Si-hyuk with a female streamer in Los Angeles surfaced online.

The video, which showed HYBE Chairman Bang crossing a street in Beverly Hills with 23-year-old AfreecaTV streamer Se Yeon, went viral among K-pop fans on Thursday.

HYBE in a statement released later that day, confirmed that Bang had met Se Yeon and her sister. The executive, in HYBE's telling, “provided advice against people impersonating those in the entertainment business” and “helped them reserve tourist destinations and restaurants.”

Online users expressed anger over the video, claiming the executive “has better things to do.”

Bang, 52, is unmarried.

HYBE posted an all-time high for revenue of 640.5 billion won ($465 million) for the second quarter on Wednesday and closed at 181,500 won, a 5.89 percent increase from the previous day. Prices declined Thursday, however, after BTS member Suga was caught having driven an electric scooter under the influence of alcohol near his home in Yongsan District, southern Seoul. The member said he'd been fined and his license suspended. HYBE shares still closed slightly higher at 183,800 won that day.

Suga and his agency, BigHit Music, have since been accused of “minimizing” the incident. The parties initially stated that he'd been driving a stand-up scooter, but further investigation revealed that the vehicle had a seat. Drunkenly driving a seated electric scooter — which has a maximum speed exceeding 25 km/h (15.5 mph) and a higher displacement — can incur higher fines of up to 20 million won or imprisonment of up to five years.

Suga is currently fulfilling his mandatory military duties as a social service agent, a role that typically involves a regular daily work schedule, allowing him to return home after work hours. The BTS member is scheduled to complete his service next June.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]