▲ Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk speaks to reporters as he arrives at the Seoul Metropolitan Police's office in western Seoul on Sept. 15, 2025. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Hybe founder-police

(LEAD) Hybe chairman appears for police questioning again over alleged unfair stock trading

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 3-4)

SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Yonhap) -- Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of K-pop powerhouse Hybe, appeared for police questioning Monday for the second time over allegations he took about 190 billion won (US$136 million) in unfair profits in the process of the company's listing.

Bang appeared at the Seoul Metropolitan Police's office in western Seoul to undergo questioning as a suspect over potential violations of the Capital Market Act after being questioned for the first time last Monday over the allegations.

The questioning lasted 12 hours and 30 minutes.

At around 10:30 p.m., Bang quickly walked out of the building under the escort of his bodyguards before getting into his car. He did not answer any reporters' questions.

Bang is suspected of deceiving investors in 2019 that he had no plans to hold an initial public offering (IPO) for Hybe before inducing them to sell their shares in the company to a special purpose company (SPC) established by a private equity fund associated with him.

Hybe is suspected to have already been preparing to go public at the time, and police suspect that Bang pocketed 190 billion won when the SPC sold its shares in the company once the IPO took place.

Police began investigating the case late last year and searched the Korea Exchange in June to seize documents related to Hybe's listing before raiding Hybe's headquarters the next month.

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