After the court’s ruling on the threatening criminal, who asked money for hiding BTS expedient marketing issue was revealed, many are arguing if it is ‘sajaegi’ or not. (sajaegi = Korean 사재기 in English, music source sajaegi means, manipulating music platform rankings) Dozens of articles are fighting over if it is BTS sajaegi, or just a method of marketing, not just articles but netizens are divided, too. Meanwhile, one article made a different point.
This article asked advice from one law firm, and made a conclusion, that it is BTS sajaegi, however HYBE hid that they were manipulating charts from the artists. This article is translated and organized version of the original source. To read the original Korean article – https://m.entertain.naver.com/now/article/144/0000959608
Translation of BTS Sajaegi original news article from ‘Sports Kyeonghyang’
According to the ruling on the Big Hit Music Threat Case 2027 obtained by this paper, the court sentenced the ‘partner A’ to one year in prison and specified that the marketing actions performed by A were “expeditent marketing.”
The case erupted in January 2017 when A ripped off a total of 57 million won by sending an e-mail to BTS agency, BigHit Music officials, saying, “I have data of illegal marketing. If you don’t pay me, I will distribute related data to the media.” At the time, the court pointed out that “the victim (Big Hit Music) was also at fault for marketing work expediently and gave the cause of intimidation,” and revealed the reason for A’s sentencing.
When the incident became known, suspicions arose that BTS and Big Hit Music might have been manipulating music charts, but Big Hit Music denied the allegations, calling the strategies as. “general viral marketing practices.”
However, as the ruling was released belatedly to the public, suspicions of sajaegi over the BTS arose again, and controversy over the pros and cons continued. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has received a complaint asking, “Please investigate allegations of BTS manipulating/ sajaegi.” By this request, the ministry started checking on the facts. The interpretation of the ruling will also follow, and suspicions related to the past music hoarding are expected to continue.
Roh Jong-eon, a lawyer representing the a law firm ‘존재’ (existance), said, “It is acknowledged that Big Hit Music was involved in expedient marketing and manipulation, but the circumstances in which BTS knew or was involved are not found in the ruling.”
In other words, the members of the BTS were not aware of the illegal or expedient marketing work specified by the court, and there is a possibility that the agency is acting alone.
Previous article about BigHit Music’s denial statement on BTS sajaegi and other issues and suing progress, CLICK HERE.