HYBE's Founder Is Under Investigation. The US Embassy Wants Him in Tampa.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office rejected the arrest warrant last Friday. As of Monday, Seoul police are still reviewing whether to refile.
On April 21, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit applied for a warrant to detain Bang Si-hyuk, HYBE's chairman and founder, on charges of fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act. Prosecutors turned it back four days later, citing insufficient grounds for detention and requesting supplementary investigation. The police, at a National Police Agency press briefing on April 27, said they are "diligently reviewing" the prosecution's feedback but cannot say whether a new warrant application will follow. "It is difficult to predict at this stage," the briefing official said.
Bang's legal exposure is significant. Police allege that in 2019, he told early HYBE investors - then known as Big Hit Entertainment - that the company had no IPO plans, inducing them to sell their holdings to a private equity vehicle connected to HYBE executives. The company had already begun pre-IPO procedures at the time, including filing for designated auditor review, a mandatory step in the listing process. Bang is accused of pocketing approximately 260 billion won ($175 million) in illegal proceeds. He has denied any wrongdoing. His legal team called the warrant request "regrettable," noting he has cooperated with investigators for months.
The investigation has been running for more than 16 months. Police received an initial tip in late 2024, raided the Korea Exchange and HYBE's Yongsan headquarters in 2025, and placed a travel ban on Bang in August. He has been questioned five times. In the warrant application, police reportedly cited concerns about evidence destruction - including Bang's replacement of his mobile phone.
That travel ban is now entangled in something larger than a domestic securities case. Korea's National Police Agency confirmed that the US Embassy in Seoul sent a letter requesting that Bang be permitted to travel to the United States. The reason: BTS's ARIRANG world tour. The group's US leg is currently underway in Tampa. HYBE's most commercially significant moment in years - BTS's first tour after nearly four years of mandatory military service - is playing out while its chairman cannot leave South Korea.
The stakes are not abstract. Industry observers have noted that if Bang is ultimately indicted, the reputational damage would extend well beyond HYBE. "If the chairman is indicted on charges tied to the very foundation of what made the company what it is today, that undermines the trust and legitimacy of the entire business," one K-pop agency executive told the Korea Herald. HYBE shares dropped 2.9% when the warrant application was announced, against a broader KOSPI index that was trading up 1.8% that day.
Bang has been chairman of the world's most powerful K-pop company for the better part of a decade. Whether he ends up indicted, cleared, or suspended in legal limbo while BTS sells out American stadiums - none of those outcomes arrives this week.
