South Korean court clears Kakao founder of stock manipulation charges

By Heekyong Yang and Heejin Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) -A South Korean court on Tuesday cleared Kakao Corp’s billionaire founder Kim Beom-su of stock manipulation charges, sending shares of the country’s dominant chat app operator 5% higher.

The tech tycoon was arrested in July last year on charges of being involved in manipulation of the stock price of SM Entertainment in 2023 to hinder a competitor, Hybe, from acquiring it. He was released on bail in October 2024.

In August, prosecutors had sought a 15-year jail term and a fine of 500 million won ($350,000).

Kim thanked the court for the ruling and said, “I hope this serves as an opportunity for Kakao to move, even slightly, out of the shadow of (the allegations) of stock price and market manipulation.”

Kim shot to fame in South Korea’s digital industry for building Kakao’s group of affiliates – worth 94 trillion Korean won ($66.13 billion) by assets – from the ground up since launching the popular messaging app KakaoTalk in 2010.

Kakao is South Korea’s biggest messaging app used by nearly 50 million Koreans, with businesses ranging from gaming, shopping to banking to taxi-hailing.

Kakao shares were trading up 5.1% after the court’s ruling.

“The case will likely proceed to the Supreme Court, but today’s ruling can be seen as easing legal risks to some extent as Kim was cleared of all charges,” said Kim Dong-woo, an analyst at Kyobo Securities.

The outcome of the case against Kim could have jeopardised Kakao’s control of online bank arm KakaoBank, since the country’s financial rules restrict those convicted of financial crime from owning more than a 10% stake in a bank.

The high-profile tech entrepreneur is the largest shareholder of Kakao Corp, with a 24% stake that he and affiliated entities control.

Kakao was not immediately available for a comment on the ruling.

($1 = 1,421.4800 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Heejin Kim and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger)