"Kim Man-bae Attempts to Acquire Two Media Companies... Also Offers Executive Position to Daejangdong Team" (Summary)

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, Kim Man-bae [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] It has been reported that Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), the private developer of the Daejang-dong development project, attempted to acquire a media company. During this process, Kim reportedly offered an executive position at the media company to a member of the ‘Daejang-dong team.’

According to the legal community and Yonhap News on the 9th, Kim attempted to acquire a private news agency, Company A, where he worked as the head of the legal team at Money Today from 2017 to 2018, and in 2019, he pursued the acquisition of Company B, a legal affairs specialized publication.

Kim proposed approximately 13 billion KRW for the acquisition of Company A, but reportedly gave up after Company A demanded around 30 billion KRW. Subsequently, Kim abandoned the acquisition of Company A and attempted to acquire Company B in 2019. However, it is reported that they could not reach an agreement on the acquisition price, which was around 30 billion KRW.

During this process, Kim also offered an executive position at the media company to the ‘Daejang-dong team.’ He told Nam Wook, a lawyer and owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 4, to serve as the vice president in charge of legal affairs at Company A.

The legal community believes that Kim pursued the acquisition of the media company to manage potential future controversies related to the project’s progress and the scale of dividends once the Daejang-dong development profits began in 2019.

It is suggested that he intended to use the media’s influence to publish articles fostering a favorable public opinion about the Daejang-dong development project or to support the promotion and operation of other businesses.

Company B confirmed that Kim had contacted them but stated that the timing was not in 2019 but in mid-2021. They added, "At that time, Kim conveyed his intention to meet through a third party, but we did not respond at all. We have never spoken directly or met with him," and "We had never even heard of Kim’s name before then."

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) is investigating whether there are criminal charges after uncovering evidence that Kim engaged in financial transactions with journalists while tracing the flow of 27.5 billion KRW in dividends from Daejang-dong that he had instructed to be concealed.

Kim is also known to have conducted financial transactions amounting to 600 million KRW with C, a former executive of a central daily newspaper, 100 million KRW with D, and 90 million KRW with E between 2019 and 2020. There are also allegations that he transferred an additional 300 million KRW to C in 2019.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.