HYBE shares rebound after 52-week low

HYBE shares rebounded after hitting a 52-week low following a dispute involving former CEO Min Hee-jin.

Pictured are condolence flowers NewJeans fans sent to to HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, in support of the girl group's demand that the agency reinstate Min Hee-jin as CEO of subsidiary label ADOR on Monday. [NEWS1]

HYBE shares rebounded slightly from their 52-week low on Tuesday. The entertainment company's stock closed at 162,900 won ($122.1), up 4,900 won, or 3.1 percent, from the previous trading day.

HYBE is embroiled in an ongoing dispute with Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of its subsidiary label ADOR. The conglomerate removed Min from ADOR's top position in August following a widely publicized April news conference in which the executive accused its leadership of misconduct.

The popular K-pop girl group NewJeans, which is signed to ADOR, asked HYBE to reinstate Min as CEO by Wednesday during a Sept. 11 YouTube livestream, accusing the parent company of “subtle bullying.” The group claimed that they had been exposed to subtle bullying from HYBE staff and Kim Ju-young, who replaced Min as CEO of ADOR on Aug. 27.

Industry observers speculated that if Min were not reinstated by the deadline, NewJeans might consider legal action to terminate their exclusive contracts with ADOR.

Update, Sept. 24 : Added stock price as of market close.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [yoon.seungjin@joongang.co.kr]