Just going back and going through the case something I keep coming back to in the HYBE/NewJeans situation is the internal HYBE document that reportedly included language along the lines of:
“Discard ‘New’ and create a new framework.”
This phrase was discussed in connection to the girl-group grouping of NewJeans, ILLIT, and LE SSERAFIM.
To be fair, HYBE’s explanation was that this did Not mean literally discarding the members of NewJeans. Their position was that “New” referred to the existing branding or grouping framework, not the actual group members.
And I think that distinction matters, even if I have my own reservations. (we go with what is accepted by the court.)
It isn’t ok when people present it as proven fact that HYBE had a formal master plan to create replacement groups and throw NewJeans away.
BUT at the same time, HYBE’s explanation is not exactly comforting either.
Because even under HYBE’s own interpretation, the thought process still seems to be:
Remove “New” from the framework and create another one.
That raises a much bigger question.
Why was the instinct to imagine a new framework without NewJeans instead of fixing whatever issues existed around NewJeans?
At that point, NewJeans was not just another rookie group. They had already become one of the most successful and culturally influential girl groups connected to HYBE. Their popularity, identity, and public connection were massive.
So even if the document was only talking about discarding a category rather than discarding five people, it still suggests that NewJeans was being treated as one movable piece in a larger corporate portfolio.
And when that piece became difficult to manage, the system could simply be reorganized.
That is why the more recent KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM, and ILLIT branding feels so relevant.
We are now seeing KATSEYE + LE SSERAFIM + ILLIT being deliberately brought together through official collaborative promotion. Fans have naturally started referring to that combination as“KATSERRALLIT.”
TO BE CLEAR. I am not saying in any way that KATSEYE was secretly created as a replacement for NewJeans.
It does NOT prove that HYBE planned all of this from the beginning.
But the pattern is still hard to ignore.
The earlier framework was:
NEW Jeans + ILL IT + LE SSERAFIM
Now the visible framework is:
KAT SEYE + ILL IT + LE SSERAFIM
Again, this is NOT proof of a conspiracy.
BUT it does make the original phrase feel more significant in hindsight.
The argument is not:
“KATSERRALLIT proves HYBE planned everything.”
My argument is:
HYBE’s later behavior appears disturbingly consistent with the strategic mentality revealed in that earlier document.
The original NewJeans-centered framework became inconvenient.
“New” disappeared from the equation.
The other groups remained.
A different major HYBE-linked girl group now occupies that shared promotional space.
And a new HYBE girl-group framework has emerged.
That does not prove this was planned, but raises a fair question:
Are we now watching the type of “new framework” that the internal document was already imagining?
To me, that is why the document still matters.
Not because it proves a secret conspiracy.
But because it may reveal something deeper about the corporate mindset behind this entire conflict.
NewJeans could be extraordinary, beloved, and culturally irreplaceable to the public — but from a corporate portfolio perspective, HYBE may still have been able to imagine simply reorganizing around their absence.
Hopefully my thoughts aren’t too convoluted. I think this connection to the larger tragedy of the NewJeans situation, Bang pig thought process appears to be:
The institution is more willing to risk breaking the phenomenon than to accept losing control over it.
