South Korean prosecutors indict eight, including six journalists, for stock‑price manipulation
Prosecutors in Seoul have filed charges against eight individuals – an accountant who runs a pseudo‑investment advisory firm, an investor and six business‑daily journalists – for a scheme that boosted the prices of low‑volume or highly volatile stocks by publishing "featured‑stock" articles and then selling shares they purchased beforehand. The scheme generated roughly 93 billion won (about US$6 million) in illegal profit. Between October 2020 and June 2023 the group produced around 1,800 articles, earning about 85.5 billion won; a separate journalist authored 340 articles from October 2022 to July 2024, pocketing about 7.4 billion won. Journalists were paid 300,000 won per article, with three receiving roughly 150 million won, 160 million won and 28 million won respectively. Four of the suspects are currently in custody. The Financial Services Commission said it will consider additional measures, such as raising the minimum cash deposit for single‑stock leveraged ETFs, to curb market volatility.
The prosecution said it will pursue the full recovery of criminal proceeds and continue strict enforcement against activities that disrupt the stock market.
Entities: Accountant A (investment advisory firm representative) · Financial Services Commission (FSC) · Journalist B · Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office · Six journalists · South Korean stock market
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Around 1,800 featured‑stock articles were written between October 2020 and June 2023, yielding about 85.5 billion won illegal profit. (Korean articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Journalists were paid 300,000 won per article; three journalists received roughly 150 million won, 160 million won and 28 million won respectively. (all articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Four of the eight suspects are in custody. (all articles)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Prosecutors indicted eight people – six journalists, an accountant and an investor – for stock‑price manipulation. (all articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The scheme generated roughly 93 billion won (about US$6 million) in illegal profit. (all articles)
- [● 3 SOURCES] One journalist authored 340 articles from October 2022 to July 2024, earning about 7.4 billion won illegal profit. (all articles)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Financial Services Commission will consider additional measures, such as raising the minimum cash deposit for single‑stock leveraged ETFs, to stabilise the market. (English article)