▲ Kim Byung-ju, chairman of private equity firm MBK Partners, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul on Jan. 13, 2026, to attend his arrest warrant hearing. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) MBK Partners-prosecution

(LEAD) Chairman of MBK appears for arrest warrant hearing over bond sale

(ATTN: UPDATES with Kim's appearance; CHANGES headline, lead, photo)

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- The chairman of private equity firm MBK Partners, Kim Byung-ju, and three other senior executives appeared at a Seoul court Tuesday to attend a hearing on their potential arrest over sales of short-term bonds of troubled retailer Homeplus Co.

Kim arrived at the Seoul Central District Court after prosecutors sought arrest warrants for Kim and the executives, including a co-chief executive of Homeplus, on charges of fraud and violation of the Capital Markets Act.

Kim entered the court building without responding to reporters' questions, including whether he acknowledged the allegations.

A decision on their potential arrest is expected to come out as early as later this day.

MBK Partners acquired a 100 percent stake in Homeplus in 2015 from British retailer Tesco Plc for 7.2 trillion won (US$4.9 billion). The retailer, however, became financially strapped due to a slump in the discount store industry and eventually entered court-led rehabilitation proceedings in March last year.

MBK Partners has been accused of allegedly selling a large-scale short-term bond of Homeplus around the time of the credit downgrade for the retailer.

On Feb. 28 last year, Korea Ratings downgraded its credit rating of Homeplus to "A3 minus" from "A3." Four days later, Homeplus asked a court to grant rehabilitation proceedings.

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