This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 9:21 a.m. on May 12, 2026.
Sewon E&C, a KOSPI-listed company, was delisted after the former management's embezzlement and breach of trust and a disclaimer of opinion, and allegations have been raised that Yang Nam-hee, a key figure in the Well Biotec stock manipulation case, was involved in the incident. This was confirmed during the trial of a fraud case that emerged in the process of securing funds when Yang was preparing to acquire Sewon E&C.
According to the capital markets industry on the 12th, it was confirmed that the de facto owner of Digitalkingdom Holdings, the largest shareholder at the time of Sewon E&C's delisting, was Yang.
Sewon E&C was listed on the KOSPI market in 2006, but delisting was decided at the end of last year, about 20 years after listing. The reason was the occurrence of delisting grounds after the management of Digitalkingdom Holdings, a special purpose company (SPC) that acquired Sewon E&C in 2022, faced embezzlement and breach of trust charges totaling about 55 billion won and the company received a disclaimer of opinion for two consecutive years. The Korea Exchange (KRX) decided to delist Sewon E&C in Mar. last year, and after the court's decision on the company's request for a provisional injunction to suspend the effect came at the end of that year, it was ultimately delisted.
Sewon E&C's delisting may appear to have resulted simply from managerial misconduct and failure, but it was confirmed that Yang was behind it. The case was confirmed during the trial of a fraud case involving CEO Park, a Fintech corporations head who lent 2 billion won to Yang for the Sewon E&C acquisition. Yang was sued after receiving 1 billion won through an investment association and 1 billion won in checks, totaling 2 billion won, from CEO Park on the promise of granting joint management rights in Sewon E&C if Park provided the acquisition funds, but then failing to keep the promise.
A capital markets industry official said, "It was an open secret that Yang was the actual owner of Sewon E&C," adding, "The delisting process of Sewon E&C is almost a carbon copy of other listed companies Yang was involved with in the past."
Yang is considered a key figure in the Well Biotec stock manipulation force that used the Ukraine presidential election theme. Previously, regarding another listed company, Yang was brought to trial on charges of zero-capital M&A and misappropriating company funds but was acquitted.
Yang initially appears to have tried to use Sewon E&C to acquire Well Biotec. Allights Investment Association, in which Sewon E&C was the largest contributor, signed a contract in Sept. 2022 with Daeyang D&I and C&I, which were then the largest shareholders of Well Biotec, to purchase existing shares, before the Well Biotec stock manipulation case occurred. However, the attempt to enter the board failed at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held later, and the contract was withdrawn.
Afterward, Yang's group is presumed to have mobilized Onse Telecom to acquire Well Biotec through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase and to have moved to boost the stock price using the Ukraine reconstruction theme. Allegations of Well Biotec stock manipulation were indicted following a special prosecutor's investigation and are now on trial.
Meanwhile, CEO Park, who was involved in raising funds for Yang's acquisition of Sewon E&C, was also reportedly sentenced to two years in prison and taken into custody. Park was accused of hiding that Yang's group was the real party behind the Sewon E&C acquisition and of borrowing 1.5 billion won from another victim as acquisition funds by claiming that Park's own company would acquire Sewon E&C, then failing to repay part of it. Park was acquitted in the first trial but was recently found guilty in the second trial.