"Tens of billions of losses" Prosecutor's Office 'Bull Pictures Go Acquired' Kim Sung-soo, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, is sentenced to 10 years in prison
Aug 13, 2025
|
The Seoul Southern District Court's Criminal Agreement Department 15 (Chief Judge Yang Hwan-seung) held a final hearing on the 12th of the two men accused of violating the Specific Economic Crimes Aggravated Punishment Act. The prosecution demanded 10 years in prison for former CEO Kim, a fine of 1.25 billion won, and eight years in prison for former division chief Lee, respectively.
According to the prosecution, former CEO Kim is accused of damaging the company by acquiring Wind Pictures, which he owns, at a high price without any valuation at the request of the former head of the department. From April to September 2019, former CEO Kim invested 33.7 billion won in Kakao Entertainment's funds in Wind Pictures and spent 40 billion won to acquire it in 2020. At that time, he hid the ownership relationship from the company, and the acquisition amount was already determined before the valuation. Lee, the former head of the division, earned about 31.9 billion won in profits from the deal.
The prosecution also pointed out that the process of acquiring Wind Pictures through a Hong Kong-based private equity fund 'Anchor PE' constitutes a 'Parking Contract'. It is explained that it can be abused in the structure of breach of trust by allowing a third party to hold stocks temporarily.
In response, Kim said, `I think I still bought Wind Pictures well", he denied the allegations. Considering the value of the industry's top producers, such as writer Kim Eun-hee and producer Kim Won-seok, it is argued that 40 billion won was not an excessive amount. The former head of the department also agreed with Kakao Group at 40 billion won and left the evaluation to the accountant", dismissing the allegations of inflating.
Prosecutors also took issue with financial transactions between the two. The former head of the department Lee handed over a debit card to former CEO Kim, who used it to purchase expensive art and diamond necklaces. Former CEO Kim said, "We have been friends for 25 years and have invested together, so I thought it easy", he explained.
The court is scheduled to issue a sentence at 10 a.m. on the 30th of next month.
mj.cho@sportschosun.com
