Kakao Suspected of 'Overpaying' for Production Company Invested by Yoon Jeong-hee... Husband Was an Executive

"Wife Invested in Production Company Acquired at High Price"

Kakao is embroiled in allegations of colluding to gain capital gains by acquiring a drama production company at a price higher than the market value, and it has been confirmed that a Kakao executive involved in the case is the husband of actress Yoon Jeong-hee. There are also speculations that Yoon may be reclassified as a suspect.

Actor Yoon Jeong-hee

According to a KBS report on the 30th of last month, the Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office has registered Lee Junho, head of Kakao Entertainment's Investment Strategy Division and husband of Yoon Jeong-hee, as a key suspect and is currently investigating.

Yoon, currently a witness, may also be reclassified as a suspect. The prosecution believes that Lee conspired with Kim Seong-su, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, to enable capital gains from selling to Baram Pictures, a production company invested in by his wife Yoon. CEO Kim Seong-su is also under investigation as a suspect. The prosecution applied charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, alleging that Kakao M caused a loss of 40 billion KRW to the company during the 20 billion KRW capital increase process after acquiring the production company at a high price.

Regarding this, Yoon Jeong-hee's agency Sublime stated, "This is a matter of the actress's private life," and added, "The company is not involved at all, so it is difficult to provide further confirmation."

Baram Pictures was a company with a capital of 10 million KRW, but Kakao M purchased it for 20 billion KRW in July 2020. At that time, Baram Pictures had operating losses of 10 million KRW in 2018, 700 million KRW in 2019, and 2.2 billion KRW in 2020. Baram Pictures is a drama production company led by CEO Park Ho-sik, who produced works such as "My Mister," "Bad Guys," "Another Miss Oh," and "Memories of the Alhambra."

Lee Junho is also under investigation for alleged market manipulation when Kakao acquired SM Entertainment.

Actress Yoon Jeong-hee was a contestant representing Gyeonggi Province in the 2000 Miss Korea pageant. She debuted in 2005 with the work "Heaven's Gift" by writer Im Seong-han. After holding a private wedding in Bali, Indonesia, in 2015, she has one son and one daughter. She made a comeback after seven years of marriage with the 2021 drama "Now, We Are Breaking Up."

In March 2021, the year of her comeback, Yoon and her husband jointly purchased an 83-pyeong (approximately 274.4 square meters) luxury apartment in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, called Nine One Hannam, for 7.4 billion KRW. In September of the same year, they sold another apartment in Hannam The Hill, also in Hannam-dong, which they had bought in February 2017 for 3.6 billion KRW, for 6.8 billion KRW, realizing a capital gain of 3.2 billion KRW in four years.