Naver Cafe Owner Involved in 'Mass Limit-Down Incident' Denies Charges

The operator of a Naver cafe related to stocks, who was indicted on charges of being involved in the 'massive lower limit price incident' of stock items, denied the charges at the first trial.

At the first hearing held on the 31st at the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judge Myung Jae-kwon), Kang Ki-hyuk (52), the operator of the Naver cafe 'Bareun Investment Research Institute,' who was detained and indicted on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, along with cafe members Son (36) and Park (49), denied the charges. However, Kang's side stated, "It is difficult to speak in detail as the evidence records were copied the day before." Seo (50), who was indicted without detention on the same charges, did not disclose whether he acknowledged the charges.

The court requested the defendants to submit a detailed statement of the charges by the 12th of next month.

According to the prosecution, Kang and others are accused of manipulating the stock prices of four listed companies, including Dongil Industry, through collusive trading from January 2020 to last June, obtaining unfair profits worth approximately 36.1 billion KRW. As five stock items?Dongil Industry, Dongil Metal, Manho Steel, Daehan Textile, and Banglim?showed massive lower limit prices in June, suspicions arose that the 'Bareun Investment Research Institute' cafe, which frequently mentioned these stocks, was involved. However, the prosecution believes Kang and others were involved in four of the stocks, excluding Banglim, which requires further analysis.

The prosecution believes that they selected the stocks, artificially raised the stock prices, and then pressured the management by approaching them as if to influence management rights. Kang, who opened the Bareun Investment Research Institute cafe in February 2021, advocating 'shareholder activism,' instructed the other defendants, who were members, to purchase specific stocks. For example, in the case of Dongil Industry, from January 2020 to last May, they placed price manipulation orders about 1,300 times, raising the stock price from the 50,000 KRW range to 220,000 KRW. The prosecution judged that they manipulated the prices of four stocks, including Dongil Industry, in the same manner to realize capital gains.

The next trial date is scheduled for 3 p.m. on the 26th of next month.

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