檢 Appeals for Bang Si-hyuk's Witness in Kim Bum-soo's Trial of 'SM Market Price Manipulation'...Attention to February last year's meeting

The prosecution applied for Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk as a witness to prove that Kim Bum-soo, chairman of Kakao's management and renewal committee, is suspected of manipulating the market price of SM Entertainment shares.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office applied for Chairman Bang as a witness in Kim's trial on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act held on the 16th.

Chairman of the states Affairs Commission Kim is accused of manipulating the market price by fixing SM Entertainment shares higher than the open purchase price of 120,000 won on a total of 553 occasions to hinder Hive's open purchase between February 16-17 and 27-28 last year.

In this regard, the prosecution plans to call Chairman Bang, Kakao's rival, as a witness to prove Chairman Kim's alleged manipulation of the market price.

Citing a meeting between Chairman Kim and Chairman Bang on February 14 last year, the prosecution said, "We asked Chairman Bang not to jump into the takeover of SM's management rights. However, it is clear from the development that Kim rejected Hive's offer with the intention of taking over SM," he said.

[Picture = Hive]