On October 29, HYBE CEO Lee Jae Sang issued an apology following the controversy surrounding the “music industry report.” On that day, he stated on the company’s official website, “ As the CEO of HYBE, I sincerely apologize to artists, industry colleagues, and fans regarding our monitoring document. ”

He added: " This document was developed to gather diverse responses and opinions on industry trends and issues after the fact. It was intended to be shared with a limited number of executives to gauge market and fan sentiment; however, the content of the document was highly inappropriate. "

Lee Jae Sang also mentioned that HYBE had apologized to the artists and their agencies named in the report, saying, " We sincerely apologize to the external artists mentioned in the report who have suffered damage and stress as a result. We have reached out to the respective agencies to apologize directly, and we also extend our sincere apologies to the artists under the HYBE Music group who have been criticized due to the company's actions. "

However, Korean netizens continue to express their dissatisfaction and criticism towards HYBE. They commented:

"A simple apology does not exonerate you. HYBE must go."

"HYBE needs to explain why they were paying subscribers to Sojang."

"The lower-level employees will be the only ones working hard, making all the phone calls. Meanwhile, the real people who wrote the post will continue to write their reviews as usual."

"Just an apology?? HYBE, pull yourself together!"

"Aren't you going to apologize to NewJeans?"

"If you look at the NewJeans section just five days after their debut, instead of giving feedback on NewJeans, they strategized on how LE SSERAFIM should respond to the 'threat' of NewJeans. And they sent that to Min Hee Jin."

"It's like that X-rated celebrity file that caused controversy a long time ago."

“Min Hee Jin is the real winner in the end.”

"Where is Bang Si Hyuk?"

"They need to apologize to NewJeans."

“HYBE will collapse if BTS decides not to renew their contracts.”

"They're so dirty. That expression is perfect for this company. They suddenly got success because of BTS and they went crazy. It's like they won the lottery and are doing all kinds of dirty things."