Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Kakao's Kim Beom-su on 'SM Entertainment Price Manipulation' Charges

The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Beom-su, Chairman of Kakao's Management Innovation Committee, who is suspected of manipulating the stock price of SM Entertainment.

Kim Beom-su, former chairman of Kakao, is appearing at the Financial Supervisory Service on the 23rd to be investigated regarding allegations of stock price manipulation related to the acquisition of SM Entertainment. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the 17th, the Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jang Dae-gyu) announced that they have requested an arrest warrant for Chairman Kim on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act.

Chairman Kim is suspected of manipulating the stock price in February last year by setting and fixing the price of SM Entertainment's shares higher than the public tender offer price of 120,000 won by its competitor, HYBE.

It is reported that during the summons investigation, Chairman Kim stated that he was informed of the agenda to purchase the stocks but did not receive detailed reports on the specific process.

The prosecution believes that Kakao purchased SM Entertainment shares at high prices a total of 553 times, mobilizing approximately 240 billion won. During this process, Kakao also failed to report the large-scale stock holdings to the financial authorities.