'BTS Enlistment' Known in Advance, HYBE Stocks Sold... Subsidiary Employees Sentenced to Prison

[Financial News] Employees of a HYBE subsidiary who sold stocks in advance knowing about the military enlistment of BTS and the resulting suspension of activities were sentenced to suspended prison terms in the first trial.
Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Agreement Division 13 (Chief Judge Kim Sang-yeon) sentenced Mr. Kim (37), an employee of Source Music, who was tried for violating the Capital Markets Act, to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspension and a fine of 231 million won.
Mr. Lee (33), a former employee of Big Hit Music, who was indicted together with Mr. Kim, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension and a fine of 51 million won, and Mr. Kim (41), a former employee of Belift Lab, was sentenced to 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspension and a fine of 65 million won.
The court also ordered them to forfeit the amount equivalent to the losses avoided by selling stocks using undisclosed important information.
The court stated, "The information about the member's enlistment and the resulting suspension of full-group activities is important information that affects investment decisions," and "The defendants avoided losses by using undisclosed important information while working at HYBE subsidiaries, which is a serious crime that damages the public interest of the capital market, and thus, the possibility of social criticism is high."
According to the prosecution, they were indicted for avoiding losses of about 230 million won by selling all their HYBE stocks in advance, knowing that a YouTube video announcing the temporary suspension of BTS's team activities due to member Jin's enlistment in May-June 2022 would soon be released. The day after the video was released, HYBE's stock price plummeted by 24.87%.

welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter