Founder of South Korea's Kakao arrested for suspected stock manipulation

An entrance of Kakao Corp.'s office building in the Pangyo district of Seongnam, South Korea, on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

SEOUL: South Korean authorities arrested Kim Beom-su, the billionaire founder of tech giant Kakao Corp on Tuesday, on accusations of manipulating stocks during the acquisition of a K-Pop agency last year.

It is the latest legal twist for Kakao, which runs South Korea's largest chat app, after the company and another executive went on trial last year, accused of wrongdoing during the acquisition.