Since the news of BTS' enlistment began to be discussed by netizens, from the group, to HYBE and even the entire Kpop industry have suffered a big loss. Until BTS officially enlists completely, Bang PD has to admit that HYBE and Kpop are facing a serious decline.

But contrary to Bang Si Hyuk's statements when mentioning BTS's position, netizens recently discovered that HYBE is intentionally lowering the group's influence through media play. A lot of evidence has been gathered to prove this and the topic quickly attracted the attention of netizens.

Below is evidence that HYBE is downplaying BTS's impact through media and the public's reaction to this issue:

As of December 2022, BTS members started joining the army to complete their military service. It has been more than a year since BTS entered a period of hiatus in group activities due to the members' military enlistment. Even from December last year until now, all 7 members are completely in the barracks, absent from the Kpop industry.

But contrary to fans' fears that BTS's reputation will fade after this hiatus, BTS members still regularly appear in public through "pre-recording". They continuously release pre-recorded music, even singles and fan events. Therefore, it seems that no gap between BTS and the public was created during their enlistment period.

However, instead of recognizing and promoting BTS's fame, HYBE was recently said to be trying to overshadow the group's influence to prove that they are not dependent on Kpop superstars. On March 22 (KST), a post outlining HYBE’s allegedly intentional downplaying of BTS in the media went viral in an online community. The post quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of views and comments.

In the post, the OP (original poster) listed a series of news headlines from 2023, which all mentioned that HYBE was still making an impressive amount of profits in the absence of BTS as they fulfilled their mandatory military duties. The headlines mostly highlighted other HYBE groups, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, and NewJeans, as artists who filled their big shoes in terms of money-making for the label.

It includes: “HYBE ≠ BTS… Highest Ever Performance In The Second Quarter By Diversifying Revenue Sources”, “The Absence Of BTS Confirms The Competitiveness Of Other Artists… Contribution From NewJeans And Others Increases”, “BTS Enlistment, Debut Of 4 HYBE Teams …. TXT→ Seventeen Comeback Announcement”, “HYBE: “We Will Debut 4 Groups”… Suggesting An Alternative To BTS’s Enlistment”, “Following BTS, Seventeen, TXT, And ENHYPEN Also Succeeded, Responses For Rookies Are Also Good”. “BTS’s Void Not Evident… HYBE Is Growing Again This Year” “HYBE To Fill BTS’s Void With NewJeans”, “We Don’t Have BTS, But We Have NewJeans”… 80% Rise Compared To Lowest Point”, “We’re Successful Even Without BTS’… HYBE’s NewJeans Enters Billboard”, “Even Without BTS, We’re Succeeding”… HYBE’s Stocks Raise By 4%”, “Park Jiwon Says HYBE Isn’t Worried About The ‘BTS Hiatus,’ Thanks To NewJeans To LE SSERAFIM, And The Monetization Of Platforms”, “‘BTS Can Enlist,’ BIGHIT Acquires Ithaca, U.S.… Target Is 360,000 Won.”

In total, the OP’s compilation had over 40 such headlines from different news outlets, all centered around similar discourse. In the opinion of many netizens, HYBE has maintained this communication all the time, in all articles to underestimate BTS's influence and contribution to the company. Meanwhile, there are some opinions that this is a common direction from an economic perspective. This calculated move by HYBE is intended to appease shareholders to maintain their confidence during these unstable periods. 

But no matter what HYBE's purpose is, fans still feel dissatisfied with the company's behavior towards the artists who have "built" this empire. Below the post, a series of comments criticizing HYBE appeared:

- What kind of media play is this?

- I guess they couldn’t do without mentioning BTS… HYBE, this is ∂ιяту.

- Is it because of the shareholders? To reduce dependence on BTS?

- Even I know K-Pop can’t exist without BTS.

- I thought there might be a few of these (articles), but there are so fяєαкing many.

- This is really crazy.

- In the case of the idol I like, I know their company is crazy. But it’s the same here…F*cking hilarious.