Kakao founder Kim Beom-su appears in court for SM Entertainment stock scandal

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su attended a court hearing on Monday regarding a requested warrant for his arrest on allegations of stock price manipulation.

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su attends a court hearing on Monday. [NEWS1]

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su attended a court hearing on Monday regarding a requested warrant for his arrest on allegations of stock price manipulation.

Kim appeared at the Seoul Southern District Court at 1:43 p.m. two weeks after being questioned by prosecutors about his supposed involvement in Kakao's inflation of SM Entertainment's shares.

The court hearing ended around 6 p.m., lasting for about 3.5 hours. The founder did not respond to reporters' prodding about the allegations.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office accused Kim of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and filed a request for the warrant last Wednesday.

The court is expected to rule on the warrant as early as Monday.

Kakao is accused of having colluded with private equity fund OneAsia Partners to artificially inject 240 billion won ($173.8 million) into the market to inflate of SM Entertainment shares between Feb. 16 and 17 and Feb. 27 and 28 in 2023 in order to block competitor HYBE from acquiring them.

Kakao ultimately came out as the winner in the takeover, allowing it and subsidiary Kakao Entertainment to jointly secure a 39.87 percent stake in SM Entertainment.

BY CHO YONG-JUN, YONHAP [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]