Did multinational entertainment company HYBE disband GFRIEND, a girl pop group, on a specific date with a particular meaning - May 1, 2021, - and is this proof, along with other signs in songs of other HYBE artists such as ILLIT, that they are related to a cult called 'Dahn World'? No, that's not true: GFRIEND was not disbanded on that date, and certain moves in a song by ILLIT don't prove the alleged association with the above-mentioned cult.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok, on April 28, 2024, under the title "μ§κΈ λ리λ νμ΄λΈ μ¬μ΄λΉμ°" or "It has gone viral now; HYBE is a cult," as translated into English from Korean by Lead Stories staff. It opened, as translated:
There is f**king terrifying story about HYBE.
GFRIEND's album name = Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night = The day burning the witch
GFRIEND disbanded on May 1
LE SSERAFIM debut May 2
They burnt (disbanded) the witch and serrafim (angel) debuted the next day
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri May 10 03:04:56 2024 UTC)
The video claims that the former HYBE girl group GFRIEND was disbanded on May 1, a symbolic date that, according to the poster, has a religious meaning. The rumored claim related to some alleged cult to which HYBE artists would belong to, is reiterated by another TikTok video (archived here) claiming that a hand sign in the song Magnetic of HYBE artists ILLIT shows they are part of the Dahn World cult.
However, both claims are false. GFRIEND's disbandment was announced on May 18, 2021 (archived here and here) and it happened on May 23, 2021. Plus, the alleged "suspicious" hand sign in ILLIT's song Magnetic is a common hand sign used in heavy metal.
GFRIEND's disbandment was an unexpected event for all the K-Pop fans. At that point, GFRIEND was one of the most popular K-pop bands in South Korea, but their label, Source Music, a member label of HYBE family, suddenly announced the termination of their contract. It is standard for K-pop artists and their music labels to establish a seven-year-long contract when they debut. It is a big issue for fans whether individual members of a boy band or a girl group renew the team contract or not. Due to this reason, when the contract is about to end, negotiations between the artists and the label are covered extensively by the press. However, in GFRIEND's case, the termination of the contract was announced just five days before, leaving fans shocked (archived here), and considering it a mystery.
After Source Music released their new girl group 'LE SSERAFIM' on May 2, 2022, the fans concluded the disbanding was for the new project, LE SSERAFIM. However, conspiracy theories started to circulate, also because of reports of internal problems within HYBE. The biggest music management company in South Korea is currently in conflict with Min Hee-jin, a legendary music producer and current CEO of the HYBE Label ADOR, for an alleged attempt to usurp management rights, according to The Korea Herald (archived here). As the internal conflict heated, the conspiracy theory against HYBE went viral: Rumors started to circulate (archived here) that HYBE is allegedly owned by Dahn World believers (archived here), and that several cult signs were allegedly sneaked into HYBE artists' music and performance.
In this context, the claim 'HYBE disbanded GFRIEND for the LE SSERAFIM because of the cult' also went viral. As the TikTok video claimed, GFRIEND's last album was 'ε:Walpurgis Night' (archived here). The video claims 'Walpurgis night' means 'the night of the burning of the witch' and in this case, GFRIEND was disbanded like a witch is burnt on Walpurgis night. Since traditionally, the Walpurgis night is April 30, the video claims this is clearly related to the cult. However, besides the fact that GFRIEND was disbanded on a different date, Walpurgis night itself is not a witch hunt event per se. According to Britannica (archived here):
Walpurgis Night, a traditional holiday celebrated on April 30 in northern Europe and Scandinavia. In Sweden typical holiday activities include the singing of traditional spring folk songs and the lighting of bonfires. In Germany the holiday is celebrated by dressing in costumes, playing pranks on people, and creating loud noises meant to keep evil at bay.
Dahn World is a South Korean meditation enterprise, with 280 local meditation centers (archived here) nationwide. They promote non-religious meditation for better physical and mental health. Dahn World has been developing and spreading its unique 'meditation gymnastics' as a part of a healthy lifestyle. Even though multiple religious studies (archived here, here, and here) labeled Dahn World as a 'new religion' or 'religious group,' such studies also point Dahn World has no cult characteristics. Dahn World identifies itself as an enterprise. In the statement posted on its website on May 2, 2024, Dahn World said, translated from Korean by Lead Stories staff:
Dahn World is a health education enterprise, established in 1985, based on humanitarian ideals and has been developed for modern people Korean meditation - 'K-meditation' - using the scientific and academic measures, not a religious group.
K-meditation is not a religious ritual, it is scientific physical, mental, brain health training program for everyone.
The other sub-claim related to HYBE's newly debuted band 'ILLIT' went viral as well. Their hit song, Magnetic, is famous for the iconic hand sign; making hand horns with both hands. A second TikTok video, already mentioned above, claims these a part of the song's dance move originate from Dahn World's meditation gymnastics:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue May 21 03:01:14 2024 UTC)
However, the hand sign image is completely unrelated to Dahn World; A Google Lens search (archived here) conducted by Lead Stories on May 21, 2024, shows the image has been repeatedly shared as a heavy metal hand sign, mainly on social media posts related to the metal music.
The video also claims that there is another Dahn World-originated dance move in ILLIT's other song, 'Lucky Girl Syndrome':
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue May 21 03:01:14 2024 UTC)
The image, with the man putting his hands on his head, actually can be related to Dahn World's meditation gymnastics. In an online article by 'K-spirit' (archived here) about 'meditation gymnastics good for headache,' the author describes the image as from the Dahn World method.
Addressing claims on alleged HYBE and Dahn World's ties, Dahn World stated that they are not a cult and not related to HYBE (archived here and here), on its official YouTube channel (archived here) on May 3 and May 4, 2024, as translated from Korean by Lead Stories staff:
Dahn World Corporation clearly state the claim is not based on facts, and we are planning strong legal action against spreading misinformation and slander, causing economic loss for the corporation.
The false accusation of Dahn World being a cult is ridiculous, from a tiny number of ignorant people who are denying (Korean) national spirit, falling for wrong beliefs, claiming their own religion is the only truth.
While HYBE did not release any statement at a company level, Big Hit Music, the first label of the HYBE family, also denied the claim. In an announcement (archived here), posted on May 2, 2024, on their fan community Weverse, in Korean and English, they state:
We would like to clarify that the recent allegations [...] of affiliations with Dahn World or any religious cults are completely false.
