Bang Si-hyuk, Chairman of HYBE, has once again postponed his appearance as a witness in the trial regarding the stock price manipulation allegations involving Kakao's SM Entertainment (hereafter SM Entertainment).
On the 7th, News1 reported, citing legal sources, that Chairman Bang's side recently submitted a reason for absence to the 15th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Yang Hwan-seung). This is the second time.
The prosecution plans to summon Chairman Bang as a witness for questioning in the trial regarding Kakao's 'SM Entertainment stock price manipulation allegations' scheduled for the 11th. In a previous hearing, the court selected Chairman Bang as a witness and issued a summons.
Once selected as a witness, one must appear in court unless there is a valid reason. If absent, the court may impose litigation costs and a fine of up to 5 million won.
Chairman Bang was also requested to appear as a witness in the hearing held on the 20th of last month but did not attend, citing a business trip as the reason.
The prosecution believes it is necessary to investigate what discussions took place between Chairman Bang and Kim Beom-soo, the founder of Kakao, regarding the acquisition of SM Entertainment through witness questioning.
According to the prosecution, Chairman Kim and Chairman Bang met on February 14, 2023, to discuss the acquisition of SM Entertainment. After the negotiations for the management rights acquisition broke down, Chairman Bang met with Chairman Kim and requested, "HYBE wants to acquire SM Entertainment, so please help us." The prosecution believes that Chairman Kim rejected this request.
The prosecution stated, "Chairman Bang submitted a complaint to the Financial Supervisory Service, claiming that Kakao made a large-scale purchase of SM stocks to prevent a public offering," and added, "The meeting between the two in February 2023 is considered an important matter in this case, hence the request for them as witnesses."
Chairman Kim is accused of manipulating the stock price by colluding with the private equity fund One Asia Partners to set and fix the stock price above the public offering price of 120,000 won in order to obstruct HYBE's public offering of SM Entertainment in February 2023.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
