Asia Tech Wire (July 22) -- Kim Beom-soo, the founder of South Korean Internet giant Kakao, appeared at a pre-trial detention hearing on Monday for allegedly maliciously manipulating stock prices during the acquisition of SM Entertainment, according to Yonhap News Agency.

It is expected that the Seoul Southern District Court will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for him as early as late Monday, the South Korean media outlet reported.

South Korean prosecutors believe that Kim allegedly invested about 240 billion won in SM shares over four days during Kakao's acquisition of SM Entertainment in February last year, in order to inflate the stock price and hinder the public takeover by rival Hybe, the owner of boy band BTS.

Of those four days, February 28, 2023 was the deadline for Hybe's public acquisition of SM shares.

As SM's stock price ended at 127,600 won on that day, which was higher than the open offer price of 120,000 won, it caused Hybe to finally give up on the purchase.