On October 18 KST, police arrested Bae Jae Hyun, Chief Executive of Kakao Investment, for suspicions of stock manipulation earlier in February of this year. 

It's believe that Bae Jae Hyun and other executives at Kakao violated the Capital Market Act in February of this year, at the height of Kakao's bid for the acquisition of SM Entertainment. When a competitor, HYBE Corporation, made a public offer for SM Entertainment stocks, Kakao allegedly invested 240 billion Won ($177,922,080.00 USD), manipulating SM Entertainment's stock value above the price offered by HYBE.

While an arrest warrant for Bae Jae Hyun was approved by the Seoul Southern District Court over concerns such as destruction of evidence and flight risk, arrest warrants for Kakao's head of investment strategy office, Kang, and assistant director Lee, were turned down. The two individuals will continue to face investigation without detainment. 

Meanwhile, Kakao executives are also facing charges for failure to report their large stock gains.