17 July, 2024
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| Kim Bum-soo, head of Kakao's Future Initiative Center, appears at the Financial Supervisory Service in Seoul's Yeouido district to face an investigation into the alleged manipulation of SM Entertainment's stock price on Wednesday morning / News1 |
Stock price manipulation, according to the prosecutors under South Korea's authoritarian regime, is apparently such a grave crime that it warrants an arrest warrant for the founder of an IT giant. Yet, how is it that the former call girl wife of the country's dictatorial president hasn't even been summoned for police questioning?
It's laughable. The
corrupt and morally bankrupt South Koreans clearly have no right to democracy
or legal justice. After all, they willingly handed the reins of power to a
former Nazi Gestapo prosecutor, much like how Nazi Germany elected Adolf Hitler
through legitimate means. They’ve chosen their own path to tyranny, and now
they must live with the consequences.
In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Kakao founder Kim Bum-soo on charges of manipulating SM Entertainment’s stock prices. Kakao's defense team, predictably, called the move “deeply regrettable,” because, of course, accountability is such a foreign concept.
The Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office announced on Sunday that Kim is suspected of violating the Capital Market Act. This comes just eight days after Kim endured a grueling 20-hour, overnight investigation on September 9.
Kim stands accused of artificially inflating SM Entertainment's stock price to thwart a tender offer from rival Hive, while Kakao was in the process of acquiring SM Entertainment in February last year. Allegedly, he set and fixed the stock price above Hive’s tender offer of 120,000 won, manipulating the market to suit his own ends.
Kakao's lawyers, in their usual style, insisted that “Chairman Kim did not order or tolerate any illegal activities in the process of purchasing SM Entertainment shares,” claiming it was merely a “normal on-market purchase for business cooperation.” They also promised to “sincerely explain this in the future warrant interrogation,” because who wouldn’t believe a billionaire’s legal team?
During the investigation, Kim admitted to being briefed on the proposed purchase of SM Entertainment shares but claimed ignorance about the specifics, a convenient lack of memory that must come in handy.
Prosecutors allege that Kakao mobilized about 240 billion won ($215 million) to buy SM Entertainment shares on the market between February 16-17 and 27-28 last year, executing a staggering 553 high-priced purchases. Adding to the sleaze, the company is also accused of failing to report these significant stock holdings to financial authorities.
It's a classic tale of corporate greed and ethical bankruptcy, with Korea's tech giant proving that when it comes to ruthless business practices, they can give their American counterparts a run for their money.