Hotel and resort corporations Ananti received an official apology from the economics YouTube channel "Sinsaimdang," which has 2.72 million subscribers, over spreading false information.
According to the industry on the 8th, Sinsaimdang posted an official apology video on the 6th, saying the video titled "The fall of Ananti," uploaded in Nov. last year, contained false information.
Sinsaimdang apologized for the harm caused to Ananti executives and employees, members, and customers, and acknowledged that most of its previous claims differed from the facts.
The problematic video included allegations that Ananti had inflated on-book profits in the past by recording membership revenue as sales rather than liability, and that as a result the CEO was indicted by prosecutors.
Sinsaimdang corrected the record, saying, "It fabricated the story as if Ananti had engaged in wrongdoing," and, "There is absolutely no fact that Ananti inflated on-book profits by recording membership revenue as sales rather than liability, received related suspicions, or was indicted by prosecutors for this reason."
It also said the claim that Ananti has an abnormal business structure that repeatedly develops new resorts solely with membership sale proceeds and pursues only sales revenue was likewise false information.
Sinsaimdang said, "Describing Ananti's normal business operations as a 'pyramid structure' or a 'multi-level fraud structure' is not only clearly false information but also seriously damaged Ananti's reputation and credit."
Ananti operates on a structure that generates operating revenue based on real assets such as hotels, resorts, and golf courses, and discloses cash flows along with sales revenue through public filings.
Sinsaimdang also said that other content, including ◇ distortion of membership transaction data and ▲ claims about price preservation rates and value declines, was "incorrect information that ignored even basic facts." It asked online media and YouTubers who cited the related content to issue corrections.
An Ananti official said, "In the roughly five months since the video was posted, the tangible and intangible damage suffered by the corporations and customers is irreparable," adding, "We have responded in accordance with principles, common sense, and the law, and we will continue to follow procedures that do not run counter to them."