Bang Si-hyuk Warrant Request Rejected Again by Prosecutors

South Korean prosecutors have again rejected a police request for an arrest warrant for HYBE chairman and founder Bang Si-hyuk, leaving the high-profile unfair trading investigation without a detention warrant for a second time. The renewed Bang Si-hyuk warrant request was turned back after prosecutors found that police had not completed the supplementary investigation previously requested in the case.¹

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office rejected the renewed request after Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency financial-crime investigators reapplied on April 30 on alleged fraudulent and unfair trading charges under the Capital Markets Act.² Newsis reported that the rejection was made on May 6, after prosecutors reviewed the application received from Seoul police.³

Bang Si-hyuk Warrant Request Returned Again

방시혁 구속영장 재반려 prosecutors investigation concept

The second rejection keeps the case at the investigation stage and marks another procedural setback for police, who had already seen an earlier arrest warrant request returned in April. Yonhap News Agency reported on May 7 that prosecutors again rejected the request, citing a lack of supplementary investigation in the alleged unfair stock trading case.¹

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that police reapplied for the warrant on April 30, six days after prosecutors first rejected the request. The renewed request came from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency financial-crime investigators and was tied to allegations under the Capital Markets Act.²

Prosecutors said the requested follow-up work had not been completed. Korea JoongAng Daily quoted prosecutors as saying, “The review found that the supplementary investigation we had previously requested had not been carried out.”²

Newsis reported the same prosecutorial reasoning, saying the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office concluded that the items it had asked police to supplement were not fulfilled. The outlet also noted that two attempts to secure Bang’s custody had now failed at the prosecution stage.³

The current status means prosecutors have not forwarded an arrest warrant request to a court for a detention hearing. Instead, the warrant application was returned before reaching that stage, based on prosecutors’ assessment of the police investigation record.

Allegations Tied to 2019 IPO Plans

The investigation centers on allegations connected to HYBE’s pre-listing period. Kyunghyang Shinmun summarized the allegation as a 2019 scheme in which Bang allegedly misled HYBE investors about the company’s IPO plans before shares moved to a private equity fund linked to executives.⁴

The Associated Press reported on April 24, when the first warrant request was rejected, that Bang was being investigated over allegations that he misled investors in 2019 about HYBE’s IPO plans. AP also reported that HYBE officials said Bang denied wrongdoing.⁵

The first rejection on April 24 came after prosecutors questioned whether detention was necessary and instructed police to strengthen their case, according to AP.⁵ Kyunghyang Shinmun also reported that the first warrant request had been returned on April 24, before police submitted the second request on April 30.⁴

The case has drawn attention because Bang is the founder and chairman of HYBE, the entertainment company behind BTS and other major K-pop acts. However, the available reports focus on the legal dispute over alleged stock trading and pre-IPO investor communications, not on artist activities or company operations beyond the investigation.

Hankyoreh reported that prosecutors said they received the renewed warrant request on April 30 and rejected it on May 6 after review. The outlet also described the repeated rejection as part of a longer disagreement between police and prosecutors over the investigation, including earlier rejected search warrant applications.⁶

Case Could Proceed Without Detention

The latest rejection does not end the investigation. It means the police request to detain Bang has again failed to clear the prosecutorial review stage. Newsis reported that police may consider forwarding the case without detention, meaning investigators could seek to send the case onward while Bang remains out of custody.³

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that police had no additional comment on the decision.² That leaves prosecutors’ stated reason, the alleged failure to complete supplementary investigation requests, as the central public explanation for why the warrant application was returned again.

Hankyoreh reported that police began a preliminary investigation in late 2024 and questioned Bang five times between September and November 2025.⁶ AP separately reported that Bang had been barred from leaving South Korea since August as the investigation continued.⁵

Bang Si-hyuk warrant rejection HYBE chairman Seoul media scene

For now, the case remains unresolved, with the second detention attempt rejected and the next procedural step dependent on how police respond to prosecutors’ demand for additional investigative work. The key development is not a court ruling on detention but a prosecutorial refusal to advance the renewed Bang Si-hyuk warrant request, keeping the investigation active while leaving any future filing or non-detention referral to the authorities handling the case.