The National Assembly is reviewing the direct and indirect investment structures and review processes of national policy banks regarding the film "Assassins" and its production company. Among the funds capitalized by national policy banks, one fund allocated 93.8% of its total capital to a single production company, while a mobility-related fund known to have met only 37% of its execution target also invested in the production company. Consequently, work is expected to proceed to cross-reference the investment scope stipulated in the capital commitment agreements with the execution records of the asset management companies.
According to the National Assembly on the 2nd, People Power Party lawmaker Kang Moon-guk requested documents detailing the circumstances related to investments in "Assassins" and production company HYBE Media Corp from the Industrial Bank of Korea for Small and Medium Enterprises, the Korea Development Bank, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The intent is to verify the fund execution process through investment review procedures and materials exchanged between the banks and asset management companies. According to the Kang (Rep.) office, the Industrial Bank of Korea directly invested 2 billion won from its own funds into "Assassins." Funds capitalized by the Industrial Bank of Korea for Small and Medium Enterprises, the Korea Development Bank, and the Export-Import Bank of Korea invested a total of 34.7 billion won in the film and production company HYBE Media Corp. The fund capitalized by the Industrial Bank of Korea executed 14.25 billion won, the fund capitalized by the Korea Development Bank executed 14.4 billion won, and the fund capitalized by the Export-Import Bank of Korea executed 6.05 billion won.
The Industrial Bank of Korea directly invested 2 billion won in the film "Assassins" on January 29 last year. Subsequently, two New Technology Business Investment Funds, each capitalized with 3 billion won by the Industrial Bank of Korea, invested a total of 14.25 billion won in HYBE Media Corp on July 1. Among these, one fund with a scale of 12 billion won in operating capital injected 11.25 billion won into the production company. This amount corresponds to 93.8% of the fund's total size.
The fund capitalized by the Korea Development Bank invested 400 million won in the film on February 27 last year. On July 1, two funds invested 4 billion won and 10 billion won respectively into the production company, bringing the total investment amount in the film and production company to 14.4 billion won.
The Export-Import Bank of Korea capitalized 25 billion won in the "KB Vezers Next-Generation Mobility ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) No. 1" fund, which is managed with a scale of 110 billion won. The fund invested 6.05 billion won in HYBE Media Corp on July 9 last year. The primary target sector of the KB Vezers Next-Generation Mobility ESG No. 1 fund is next-generation mobility. As of the end of March last year, the execution rate was known to be 37%. The target execution amount is 60 billion won. It has not been disclosed whether the investment in the production company was classified as a primary target investment.
However, investments outside the primary target are not legal violations if they fall within the permissible scope defined by the capital commitment agreement. Policy-capitalized funds typically bind a certain percentage of the committed amount to primary target investments, while allowing asset management companies to invest in the remainder without industry restrictions.
The Export-Import Bank of Korea plans to select asset management companies by designating K-Culture as a separate investment area, alongside semiconductors and secondary batteries, in this year's venture fund capitalization project.
The KB Vezers Next-Generation Mobility ESG No. 1 is a private equity fund exclusively for institutional investors. The right of the bank, as the capital provider, to pre-emptively block individual investments by the fund is not guaranteed under Bank of Korea law. The Commercial Act prohibits limited partners (LPs) from executing business operations. The Capital Markets Act grants limited partners the right to inspect books and documents and request the provision of financial statements, and grants general partners (GPs) the authority to inspect the fund's operations and assets only in cases of serious violations.
The opposition party, including Kang (Rep.), is expected to raise as an issue whether the investment targets, limits, and asset management companies' reporting obligations contained in the capital commitment agreements aligned with the actual investment and management processes.
HYBE Media Corp pursued a 40 billion won investment attraction in February last year, retaining Samil PwC as its advisor. At the time, the company stated its policy was to use the raised funds for securing intellectual property (IP) and expanding drama production, with plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) thereafter.
People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo cited a report on the 28th of last month that CLSA Capital Partners would invest 40 billion won in HYBE Media Corp, raising suspicions of links to Chinese capital. However, HYBE Media Corp refuted this the following day, stating that the work was produced independently with domestic capital.
"Assassins" is a film based on the assassination incident involving the late Lady Yoon Young-soo and has been engulfed in controversy over historical distortion.
However, director Heo Jin-ho and the production team have stated that while the film started from actual events, it is a work that added significant fictional imagination, and that there was no intent to distort history.
Additionally, Democratic Party of Korea spokesperson Shin Hyun-young said in a written briefing on the morning of the 2nd, "The cancellation of the scheduled premiere of 'Assassins' in Busan is an unfortunate outcome," adding, "We express strong regret at the situation where threats are spreading to individuals such as actors and production staff."
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