According to BlockBeats, on August 8, South Korean IT giant Kakao's founder and Chairman of the Management Reform Committee, Kim Beom-su, was arrested and indicted by prosecutors on charges of stock manipulation. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office arrested and charged Kim for allegedly violating the Capital Markets Act.

Prosecutors suspect that Kim Beom-su manipulated stock prices during Kakao's acquisition of SM Entertainment in February last year. It is alleged that he artificially inflated SM Entertainment's stock price to over 120,000 KRW per share (approximately 625 RMB) to hinder a competing bid from HYBE.

Additionally, former Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek and former Kakao Entertainment CEO Kim Sung-soo were indicted without detention.