South Korean court approves arrest warrant for Kakao founder

By Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean court approved early on Tuesday a prosecution request for a warrant to arrest Brian Kim, the billionaire founder of tech giant Kakao Corp, on accusations of stock manipulation during a 2023 acquisition.

It is the latest legal twist for Kakao after the company and an executive went on trial last year for alleged wrongdoing during the same acquisition.

This is also one of the biggest potential risks faced by Kim, who is seen as a visionary in South Korea's digital industry for building Kakao's group of affiliates - worth a total of 86 trillion won ($62 billion) by assets according to government data - from the ground up since launching its chat app in 2010.

Prosecutors say Kim was involved in manipulation of the stock price of SM Entertainment in February last year to hinder a competitor, Hybe, from acquiring the K-Pop agency.

Not yet formally charged, Kim has denied the accusations, saying he has never ordered or tolerated any illegal activity, the company said in a statement.

The high-profile tech entrepreneur is the largest shareholder of Kakao Corp, with a stake of 24% controlled by him or affiliated entities.

The Seoul Southern District Court approved the warrant to stem a risk of destroying evidence or absconding, a court official said. The court ruled only on whether a warrant is appropriate, and not on the prosecution's allegations.

Kim's arrest would last up to 20 days, during which prosecutors are expected to investigate further before bringing charges, according to South Korean criminal procedure.

Analysts said the outcome of any case against Kim could also jeopardise Kakao group's control of online bank arm KakaoBank Corp, since the country's financial rules restrict those convicted of financial crime from owning a stake of more than 10% in a bank.

Continued regulatory and social scrutiny is also seen making it tougher for the operator of South Korea's largest chat app to make major decisions on investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and overseas business expansion, they said.

The company plans to introduce new AI services this year.

Kakao Corp shares have fallen 24% year-to-date.

Kim heads a "corporate alignment" council that coordinates the interests of the Kakao group's 128 affiliates and decides what businesses to concentrate on.

($1=1,389.2700 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee in Seoul; Editing by Ed Davies, Clarence Fernandez and Matthew Lewis)