Police have announced that they will review the reasons behind prosecutors once again rejecting an arrest warrant request for HYBE chairman Bang Si Hyuk before deciding whether to reapply.
According to police authorities on May 18, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jung Bo addressed the matter during a regular press briefing held at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
Park stated, “We plan to analyze the reasons why the prosecution decided not to request the arrest warrant and determine the future direction of the investigation.” He added, “We will comprehensively review whether there are additional records or evidence that need to be supplemented and, while respecting the prosecution’s opinion, decide whether to reapply for the arrest warrant.”
On May 6, the Joint Investigation Division for Financial and Securities Crimes at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office rejected the arrest warrant request submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Financial Crime Investigation Unit. Prosecutors explained that the supplementary investigation requests they had previously made had not been fulfilled.
This marked the second time the warrant request had been rejected. On April 24, prosecutors had already once returned the request, stating that there was currently insufficient explanation and evidence to justify detention at this stage.
Amid the repeated rejection requests and demands for supplementary investigations, speculation emerged suggesting possible tensions between prosecutors and police over the investigation. However, Commissioner Park dismissed such interpretations, saying, “The prosecution is faithfully carrying out its responsibilities, and the police are also faithfully performing their duties from the police perspective.”
Meanwhile, HYBE became the first entertainment company in South Korea to be listed on the KOSPI stock market in October 2020.
However, allegations later surfaced claiming that Bang Si Hyuk told investors there were no plans for HYBE to go public before allegedly encouraging them to sell their shares to a specific private equity fund. Investors reportedly sold their holdings based on Bang’s statements, while suspicions remain that HYBE had already been preparing pre-IPO procedures during the same period.
Sources: Daum
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