It can be seen that, at the present time, although the transfer of shares between Lee Soo Man and Bang Shihyuk has ended, the controversy over HYBE becoming a shareholder of SM is still a topic of interest. Not only that, the SM fans are now becoming the most crazed during this time.

They recently expressed their opposition to HYBE's acquisition of SM's shares by rioting in front of HYBE's headquarters. They sent downloads with banners showing the words protesting, opposing, and slandering the company.

Here's the page currently seen under the door of HYBE headquarters:

HYBE has been involved in a recent feud between SM Entertainment founder Lee and the company's executives. SM's turmoil began when co-CEOs Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-jun outlined a blueprint for the company's new chapter under a new strategy called "SM 3.0" and cut Lee Soo Man. out of the picture.

Previously, Lee Soo Man was the founder of SM and the company's key producer. At the time, кσяєαn tech giant Kakao, who also backed the SM 3.0 plan, bought a 9.05% stake in SM Entertainment and became the company's second largest shareholder.

Faced with that situation, Lee Soo Man filed a petition stating that it is ilℓєgαℓ to issue convertible bonds to a third party (Kakao) when this agency is currently in dispute over business management. But then, he quickly shook hands with HYBE and signed an agreement to exchange 14.8% of the shares he owns for this company, making HYBE the largest shareholder of SM.

While buying and selling is a common thing in the market, SM CEOs as well as fans of this company think that HYBE's acquisition of other companies is unacceptable, causing a bad effect on the health of the company. Entertaiment industry. Therefore, SM's CEOs as well as fans are strongly against HYBE becoming SM's largest shareholder even though all transactions have been completed.

Not only protesting on the Internet, SM Entertainment fans these days have protested by sending trucks with large LED screens with different slogans. They showed a sharp contrast in front of the HYBE and HYBE Insight headquarters.

According to media reports, the vans sent by SM Entertainment fans include the following messages:

- “HYBE is the crazy company that spent 10 trillion KRW on Lee Soo Man’s tree planting campaign.”

- “From all the SM fans who are against HYBE’s monopoly: We would like an SM without HYBE.”

- “You should plant some trees with Interpol’s wanted Lee Soo Man. Get your hands off SM 3.0.”

- “HYBE, who is cozy with tax-evading Lee Soo Man, give up on SM Entertainment. A monopoly would k̾i̾l̾l ̾ the culture.”

- “K-Pop’s great genius, take care of your own babies. We will take care of our own.”

- “Don’t you dare mess with SM artists. Don’t make us cursє at HYBE artists.”

- “Greedy HYBE, don’t you touch SM. Don’t ruin K-Pop by eating SM.”

- “HYBE, we believe in money.”

- “I brought this truck to tell you confidently that I am a fan of an SM without Lee Soo Man.”

This protest is expected to last for the next few days. Although there were no fans showing more violent protests or gathering in front of the company, this practice also caused a lot of controversy, even with humorous stories.

Some think it's the business of the big guys and their business is based on benefits, while SM fans only think about things like humanity and love. Many people think that HYBE is not wrong to buy SM because someone wants you. They also claim to support SM artists with their platform and technology and not interfere with the way it works. Therefore, such protest actions are pointless and ridiculous.

Meanwhile, according to reports, HYBE’s 14.8% acquisition circumvents a mandatory pre-review by Korea’s Free Trade Commission, which must green-light acquisitions of 15% or higher before the acquisition can be made. SM Entertainment has since stated they would be reaching out to the Free Trade Commission.

In response to SM's actions, HYBE also announced on Tuesday that it has filed a request with the Financial Supervisory Service requesting an investigation into a "suspicious" large stock purchase agreement by SM Entertainment. The request comes as HYBE wants to take over a rival company after becoming the largest shareholder.

"In February. On October 16, an unusual purchase of 2.9% (683,398 shares) of SM's issued shares took place at the Pangyo Branch of IBK Investment Securities. There are suspicions of violations of the Capital Markets Act,” HYBE said in a statement.

The intense battle between the two sides seems unlikely to stop before the shareholder meeting at the end of this March. And between now and then, there are still many interesting details to watch!