South Korean prosecutors have rejected a police request for an arrest warrant against HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, just days after officers applied for his detention in connection with an investigation into alleged unfair trading tied to the company’s 2020 IPO.
That’s according to Yonhap News Agency, which reports today (April 24) that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office declined the warrant request. Police had applied for the warrant on charges of unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, the outlet reported.
“At this stage, there is insufficient evidence to justify the necessity of detention, and we have therefore requested a supplementary investigation,” the prosecution said, according to Yonhap.
The decision came after the financial crimes unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency applied for an arrest warrant for Bang on Monday (April 21).
That warrant application itself followed an announcement from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jung-bo, who had told reporters the day before the warrant application that that the investigation into Bang was “essentially complete” and nearing conclusion, as reported by The Korea Herald.
Bang is accused of misleading investors in 2019 by telling them that HYBE (then known as Big Hit Entertainment) had no plans to pursue an initial public offering, while the company was allegedly already undergoing pre-IPO procedures.
Investors reportedly sold their holdings to a private equity fund based on those assurances. According to Yonhap, Bang is suspected of generating approximately 260 billion won (approx. $175 million) through the scheme.
Bang has denied the allegations. According to Yonhap, he has said the IPO followed the law and regulations.
When police applied for the warrant on April 21, Bang’s legal team, in a statement to the Associated Press, expressed regret that officers were seeking his arrest “despite our full and consistent cooperation with the investigation over an extended period.”
Bang has reportedly been under a travel ban since August 2025 and was summoned by police twice for questioning in September of that year. He returned to Seoul from the United States in August 2025 to face questioning, telling staff at the time that he felt “a deep sense of regret” that the situation might be affecting HYBE’s artists and employees.
As previously reported, Bang and three other executives were referred to prosecutors in July 2025 by regulators for a probe into alleged unfair trading connected to the IPO.
The case remains under investigation. Prosecutors have requested that police conduct further evidence-gathering.
Korean media reported recently that the US Embassy in Seoul had sent a letter to the police agency requesting that Bang and other HYBE executives be permitted to travel to the US, citing BTS’s ARIRANG world tour – the US leg of which opens in Tampa later this month – and July 4th celebrations.
HYBE denied involvement in the embassy letter, saying it had “not requested the US Embassy to seek the lifting of Chairman Bang’s travel ban”.Music Business Worldwide
