Seoul: Prosecutors have appealed the recent court acquittal of Kim Beom-su, founder of tech giant Kakao Corp., on stock manipulation charges related to the company’s takeover of K-pop agency SM Entertainment, officials said Tuesday. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office has filed an appeal against the not-guilty ruling on Kim, citing factual and legal misunderstandings behind the decision.
According to Yonhap News Agency, last week, the Seoul Southern District Court acquitted Kim, who is currently head of Kakao’s Future Initiative Center, of charges of violating the Capital Market Act. The charges were related to allegedly inflating SM share prices above rival Hybe’s tender offer price to block its takeover of SM in 2023. The court found it challenging to conclude that Kakao intended to fix the share price above the market price based on the time intervals between Kakao’s purchases of SM shares.
The court also determined there was insufficient basis to support the prosecution’s argument that the SM takeover was essential for Kakao at the time. Prosecutors, however, claimed that Kakao’s actions in price fixing blocked Hybe’s takeover of SM, resulting in losses for many individual investors.
Prosecutors further argued that the court ruling failed to consider records of phone conversations among Kakao officials and other key evidence. The appeal has now sent the case to the Seoul High Court for another trial round.