"Stock Cafe Owner Involved in '5 Stocks Limit Down' Arrested... Denies Market Manipulation Charges"

Three individuals, including Kang Ki-hyeok (52), the operator of a Naver cafe suspected of being involved in the 'massive limit-down incident,' are facing detention. Kang, who appeared in court, denied allegations of market manipulation in front of the press.

At 10:24 a.m. on the 12th, Kang Ki-hyuk (52), who is accused of violating the Capital Markets Act, is moving to the courtroom for a warrant hearing at the Seoul Southern District Court. Photo by Hwang Seo-yul chestnut@

At around 10:30 a.m. on the 12th, Judge Kim Ji-sook, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, conducted a detention hearing for Kang, Son, and Park, who are accused of violating the Capital Markets Act. Kang, who arrived at the court at 10:24 a.m., responded to reporters' questions about whether he admitted to gaining unfair profits through market manipulation by saying, "I do not admit it."

When asked if a 'VIP list' existed, Kang stated, "It has been confirmed that there is absolutely none," and added, "Because accounts were tracked for over three months, it has been verified through the prosecution and the Financial Supervisory Service that no funds flowed into my account or those of my family."

Kang continued, "I was actively involved in the economic democratization movement and was diligently trading stocks, but I was unable to buy more due to loan restrictions," adding, "My lawyer will explain this part well during this hearing."

Finally, Kang expressed his apologies to the investors who suffered losses, saying, "Unexpected damages occurred, and I am sorry for causing such a situation due to my lack of capability."

The decision on whether to detain Kang and the others is expected to be announced as early as late this afternoon.

According to the prosecution, Kang and others are accused of manipulating the prices of five stock items?Dongil Industry, Manho Steel, Daehan Textile, Banglim, and one more?through matched trading from January 2020 to last May, earning unfair profits amounting to approximately 35.9 billion KRW.

The investigation into them accelerated following the 'massive limit-down incident' on the 14th of last month, when the stock prices of the five items plummeted sharply. Since the stocks were frequently mentioned in the Naver stock-related cafe 'Bareun Investment Research Institute,' operated by Kang, suspicions arose that the cafe was involved in the limit-down incident. Son and Park are also known to have been active in this cafe.

Earlier, the prosecution filed detention warrants for Kang and others on the 6th. Kang was summoned for questioning as a suspect for three consecutive days until the day before the warrant request, and last month, a travel ban was imposed on Kang along with a search and seizure of his residence.

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