This photo, provided by Big Hit Entertainment, shows South Korean band BTS performing at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 11, 2019. Photo: IC

South Korean K-pop agency Big Hit Entertainment, which manages idol group BTS, debuted on the Korean stock exchange on Thursday. 

Its share price surged by the daily limit of 30 percent in the morning session as investors bet on the South Korea's largest IPO in three years.

This drives Big Hit's market capitalization to about 11 trillion won ($9.6 billion), which is higher than the combined value of other three major entertainment management firms in South Korea - YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment.

Big Hit opened at 270,000 won ($235) in Seoul, South Korea, which doubled its offering price of 135,000 won per share. According to the company's regulatory filing in September, it aims to raise 962.55 billion Korean won ($820 million) via the IPO, pulling off the largest IPO in South Korea since July 2017, according to data from Dealogic, a financial market data platform.

The high-profile IPO came even as its core band BTS angered Chinese netizens because the band's mention of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War after receiving an award reflected a one-sided attitude.

After receiving the General James A. Van Fleet Award, an award celebrating US-Korea relation, the team leader of BTS said, "We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations shared together and the sacrifices of countless men and women." The two nations he is referring to are the US and South Korea.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), also known as the Korean War, with a great number of Chinese people commemorating those who sacrificed their lives during the war.

Many Chinese netizens pointed out that the speech plays up to US netizens, despite the fact that the country played the role of aggressor in the war.

Global Times