Kakao founder cleared of market violation charges
Published: 21 Oct. 2025, 11:47
![Kakao founder Kim Beom-su enters the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon DIstrict, western Seoul. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/21/9de31089-000d-406d-a42a-32860dd2df03.jpg)
Kakao founder Kim Beom-su enters the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon DIstrict, western Seoul. [NEWS1]
Kim Beom-su, founder of Kakao and chair of the company’s management reform committee, was acquitted Tuesday of charges that he manipulated the share price of SM Entertainment.
The Seoul Southern District Court found Kim not guilty of violating the Capital Markets Act.
Prosecutors accused Kim of manipulating the market in February 2023 during Kakao’s bid to acquire K-pop agency SM Entertainment. He was alleged to have interfered with rival bidder HYBE by artificially fixing SM’s share price above the public tender offer made by HYBE.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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