I have compared BTS to Napoleon many times, and have been negative to its return attempt in 2026.
And wrote about the coalitions which would be formed against it if it returned
What I intended to write was that when BTS came back, everyone else in the Hybe label, led by Min Heejin, ganging up against it.
New Jeans fought Jungkook for weeks at Melon, so while JK's song reached #1 in Billboard Hot 100, at Melon New Jeans was above JK, who finally beat them only to be defeated by Akmu, a longtime IU ally, a few days later.
It is now revealed that Ador would release songs without regard to other acts under Hybe organization so it is likely that Min Heejin would have released a New Jeans song just around BTS attempts a return.
So, what would have happened that New Jeans would have attempted to defeat BTS in Korea, undermining its credibility just like Cho Yongpil shot Psy on the back in 2013.
It is not clear how other labels would have allied with either Bang or Min Heejin, but by 2026 NJ would have been more powerful so it is quite possible that other labels not directly controlled by Bang would have allied with her. IU would have played the role of Blucher, appearing at the right time to polish BTS off.
So BTS' return is defeated, and Min Heejin and her faction get to control Hybe for all practical purposes as it becomes clear that NewJeans , plus Ador's new boy group which would have debuted in 2025 (but will instead be scrapped since it would have been made in her image), bring more value to the shareholders than whatever Bang would be running.
BTS gets to be shipped to St. Helena, i.e. arenas in cities not generally considered to be major cities, while New Jeans gets to tour stadiums and Min Heejin becomes a billionaire.
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It seems Illit really ticked Min Heejin off which might have led her and her minions to act faster than scheduled. We don't have the complete story, but she might have feared that Bang intended to replace NJ with Illit, and Illit's fast success might have increased her sense of danger.
However, if she had ignored Illit and did a world tour, instead of going to Japan where Illit, with 2 Japanese members, were more likely to prevail, she would have overshadowed whatever Illit would be doing.
In other words, Min Heejin lost the general picture since she saw Illit and the staff behind it as a threat and thought it should be dealt with, instead of just holding off for even one year to make New Jeans a dominant act and force her will to the entire Hybe empire.
With her victories against BTS, Han Sungsoo (Pledis), Zico and others Bang had assembled would have followed her, not Bang, since it has been revealed that without BTS Bang is nothing, no matter what investment he had made elsewhere. He would have been forced out like Lee Sooman. Whether some BTS members would have followed him would no longer be relevant since the world would have seen that New Jeans defeated BTS once for all.
In my opinion her impact would have been much bigger if NewJeans had gotten larger, and there would have been a very reasonable chance of her defeating BTS and Bang, and taking over Hybe. But she tried to move before NJ and her new boy group became stronger.
t is unlikely that Min Heejin will be left in Hybe. Whether NJ will remain in Hybe is not important. It will NEVER be allowed to attack BTS or other hybe acts. That will also make other Hybe labels think twice before attacking acts directly under Bang's control (BTS, txt, Le Sserafim and Illit), and also IU would would be embarrassed by allying with New Jeans and won't show up to hinder the advance of Hybe acts.
Min Heejin's ouster unwittingly removed a huge threat against BTS' return in 2026. Min Heejin would have been able to destroy BTS if she had waited for 2 more years, but Illit did tick her off enough to make her act earlier than the optimal moment, and thereby changing BTS' destiny.
Taylor Swift and other western major singers will now have to develop a different strategy to deal with BTS in 2026 since it has become impossible to contain BTS in Korea before it does more damage to them.
