- The Pony Chung Innovation Award Ceremony was held on June 25 at the Pony Chung Hall in IPARK Tower, Samsung-dong

- Great Influence on the music industry as a global innovative entrepreneur

 Pony Chung Foundation (Chairman Kim Chul-su) chose Bang Si-hyuk, CEO of Big Hit Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as Big Hit), who produced BTS, a world-famous singer group, as the awardee of the 14th Pony Chung Innovation Award. The awarding ceremony was held on June 25 at 11 a.m. in Pony Chung Hall, IPARK Tower, Samsung-dong. 

 At the awards ceremony, President Kim Chul-su of the Pony Chung Foundation explained the reason of the selection and congratulated him in a greeting, “CEO Bang Si-hyuk is an innovative entrepreneur who is now receiving attention from the world beyond South Korea. He has presented his vision to the music industry through various attempts,” and “The challenges and innovation presented by President Bang have gained sympathy and support from around the world and he has been creating a new paradigm.” Due to COVID-19, the awards ceremony was held with minimal guests, including CEO Bang Si-hyuk, the awardee, Chairman Kim Chul-su of Pony Chung Foundation, Chairman Chung Mong-gyu of HDC, and board directors of the foundation. 

 CEO Bang Si-hyuk, after establishing Big Hit in 2005, produced BTS, a world-famous group and also known as ‘The 21st Century Beatles’ to show the cultural power of South Korea to the world. He continued unprecedented attempts in the music industry such as the successful global debut of TOMORROW X TOGETHER and the launch of ‘Weverse’, a fan community platform, and ‘Weverse Shop’, a commerce platform. He was also selected as one of the ‘Next Generation Innovators’ (New Power Generation: Top 25 Innovators) announced by the US Billboard in 2019 and the ‘International Music Leader’ (two consecutive years) by Variety, an American entertainment media. His global influence was proved when he was included among the 1,340 members announced by the American Recording Academy, which hosts the Grammy Awards, in June of the same year along with the 7 members of BTS. He was also listed in the ‘Power List’ and ‘Indie Power Players’ selected by Billboard this year. Big Hit was ranked fourth, after Snap, Microsoft, and Tesla, in the list of 50 ‘World's Most Innovative Companies’ by Fast Company, an American economy specialist media, in 2020. CEO Bang Si-hyuk has been acclaimed as an innovative entrepreneur offering a new vision for the entire music industry and attracting attention from all over the world.

 In the awards ceremony, CEO Bang Si-hyuk said, “Art possesses great power. Since I consider music as my vocation, I will not forget why music made me happy the first time. As a businessperson and a member of our society, I will do my best to make a good impact on society while leading my own company,” and “I'm going to share the glory of the award with artists who have worked with me and all members of Big Hit together." 

 The Pony Chung Innovation Award was established in 2006 by Chung Mong-gyu, Chairman of the HDC Group, following the nickname of the late Chung Se-yung, Honorary Chairman of Hyundai Development Company, who founded Hyundai Motor Company. It has been awarded to individuals or organizations that have made positive changes to our society through innovative thinking. 

 The 1st Pony Chung Innovation Award winner was Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General. Afterward, the award was also given to Kim Yuna (figure skater), Cho Seong-jin Cho (pianist), Lee Guk-jong (Head of Ajou University Hospital’s Trauma Center in Gyeonggi), Kim Ha-jong (President of the social welfare corporation Anna House), and Chang Yoo-jeong (movie and musical director).