South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) found itself in an unexpected media storm following the announcement of former ENHYPEN member Heeseung’s departure from the K-pop group.
On March 18, Kim Sung Joo, the commissioner of the NPS, took to social media to explain the situation. “Last week, the International Pension Support Center received a sudden surge of overseas calls, temporarily paralyzing operations. At the same time, approximately 1,500 emails flooded in within just two hours,” he wrote. The influx of inquiries came from international fans upset about Heeseung leaving ENHYPEN, targeting the NPS due to its status as a major shareholder in HYBE Corporation.
Kim clarified that the International Pension Support Center primarily handles pension support for foreign workers in Korea and Koreans working abroad. “Because of this incident, people who called for regular pension consultations experienced significant inconvenience,” he said.
He emphasized that the NPS, as a long-term investor managing citizens’ retirement funds, does not interfere with the management or personnel decisions of the companies it invests in. “We invest in numerous companies across more than 80 countries worldwide, but we do not get involved in the internal affairs of individual companies. Naturally, we do not influence the formation of K-pop groups or their member lineups,” Kim added.
Meanwhile, HYBE subsidiary Belift Lab announced on March 10 that Heeseung would be leaving ENHYPEN. The former member will continue his career as a solo artist under Belift Lab, releasing his own album.
SEE ALSO: ENHYPEN named the first artist for HYBE and Spotify’s podcast show 'STAN:A'
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