The CEO of FNC Entertainment chose CNBLUE's Yong Hwa over FTISLAND's Hong Ki to take the reigns as CEO.

In an appearance on MBC's Radio Star, the CEO of FNC Entertainment said that CNBLUE's leader Jung Yong Hwa had more potential to lead the company than FTISLAND lead singer Lee Hong Ki. The pick led to virulent reaction from fans of FTISLAND, and FTISLAND's members took to social media to comment. FNC Entertainment later released a statement to explain the situation.

On February 4, FNC Entertainment's CEO Han Seong Ho was asked to choose whether Jung or Lee would make a better CEO for FNC Entertainment in the future, reported the K-Pop Herald. Han chose the CNBLUE front man because of his responsible personality, while calling Lee out for acting out.

"Jung Yong-hwa has never caused any trouble, and he's good at office politics. He looks after the trainees even when he doesn't have any schedule at the company."

Han explained that FTISLAND made FNC Entertainment grow, while CNBLUE is more popular overseas.

Fans of FTISLAND took to social media in South Korea to protest, pointing out that FTISLAND was the first group that made profit for FNC Entertainment. An article on Instiz was composed and published by FTISLAND's fans, known as Primadonnas, calling out FNC Entertainment for continual bias against FTISLAND.

FTISLAND's Lee Hong Ki took to Instagram, expressing that he was ready to counter FNC's CEO. "Oho... haha When I have a comeback, I want to go on Radio Star too!!! Hahaha Producer, scriptwriters, make sure to invite me when [FTISLAND] makes a comeback."

The K-Pop Herald also revealed that FNC Entertainment released a statement to address the situation: "To CEO Han Sung-ho, both Lee Hong-gi and Jung Yong-hwa are precious musicians. A show is only a show. Bite all 10 fingers, and there's not one finger that doesn't hurt. We hope there are no misunderstandings."

FTISLAND announced an upcoming album at their show in New York City in January.

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A photo posted by 홍기 이 (@skullhong12) on Feb 4, 2015 at 7:32am PST