Police said they will review whether to again seek an arrest warrant for HYBE Chair Bang Si-hyuk on suspicion of "fraudulent unfair trading."
At a regular press briefing on the 18th, Park Jung-bo, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief, said, "We are reviewing the reasons the prosecution returned the warrant," and added, "We plan to analyze the reasons for non-filing and decide on the direction of the investigation going forward." Earlier, prosecutors returned the police request for an arrest warrant twice, citing the need for supplementary investigation.
Asked whether police had missed the timing to seek an arrest warrant given that the questioning of Chair Bang had wrapped up around last November, Commissioner Park said, "Our view may differ from the prosecution's, but the police did their best."
Park explained that investigations into Coupang's large-scale personal data leak and into National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NongHyup) President Kang Ho-dong, who is suspected of accepting bribes worth about 100 million won, are also proceeding through the necessary steps.
The investigation into independent lawmaker Kim Byung-kee, who faces 13 allegations, will close some charges first. Park said, "It would be better to wrap up the investigation all at once, but there are so many moving parts that we have decided to sort out what has been completed first," adding, "Most of it is finished, but we need to complete the legal review before we can consider the next steps."