Bang Si-hyuk Third Warrant Under Review After Two Prosecutorial Returns

Police have not confirmed a third detention warrant application for HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk, but they are reviewing whether to seek one after prosecutors returned two earlier requests. The Bang Si-hyuk warrant issue remains at the supplementary investigation stage, with police saying they will analyze prosecutors’ reasons for not filing the warrant before deciding their next step.¹

At a regular press briefing on May 18, 2026, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Park Jeong-bo said police were examining why prosecutors declined to proceed with the warrant applications. He said police would “analyze the reasons for non-filing and decide the direction of the investigation going forward,” and added that police would respect prosecutors’ views while considering whether records needed to be supplemented.¹

Third Bang Si-hyuk Warrant Remains Under Review

The latest confirmed status is not a third filing, but a review of whether to file again. That distinction is central because the cited reports establish two police applications and two prosecutorial returns, while the May 18 briefing left the next application undecided.¹

The first warrant request was filed by police on April 21, 2026, and returned by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on April 24. Prosecutors said at that stage that the reasons requiring detention had not been sufficiently established and requested supplementary investigation.²

Police filed again on April 30, 2026. The second request was returned on May 6, with prosecutors reported to have judged that earlier supplementary investigation requests had not been fulfilled.³ Seoul Shinmun reported on May 11 that police would review prosecutors’ requested supplementary investigation items before deciding whether to apply again.⁴

The investigation concerns suspicions tied to HYBE’s pre-listing period in 2019. Police suspect Bang misled investors by telling them there was no listing plan, leading them to sell shares, and later received part of the gains after the company went public.² YTN reported that police suspect an alleged unfair profit amount in the 190 billion won range through a private contract with a private equity fund, while Korea Economic Daily reported police assessed the overall unfair profit scale at around 260 billion won.³⁵

Key Timeline of the Warrant Process

The timeline shows that the procedural issue is centered on pre-court review between police and prosecutors. The warrant requests did not proceed to a confirmed court hearing in the cited source material; instead, prosecutors returned them to police for further work.³²

Police have pushed back against the view that the repeated returns represent an institutional conflict. On May 11, National Office of Investigation chief Park Sung-joo said it was difficult to agree with interpretations describing the matter as a tug-of-war between police and prosecutors, and said police were consulting with prosecutors.⁴ He also said he would review prosecutors’ supplementary investigation requests before making a judgment on whether to reapply.⁴

That position was broadly consistent with the May 18 comments from Park Jeong-bo, who said police would respect the prosecution’s opinion and decide after considering whether the record should be supplemented.¹ The available source material therefore supports a cautious reading: police are keeping the option of another application open, but a third warrant request has not been confirmed.

Prosecutorial Returns and Defense Position

The prosecution’s stated reason for returning the first request was a lack of sufficient explanation for why detention was necessary at the current stage. Yonhap News reported that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said it requested supplementary investigation because it judged the grounds requiring detention had not been adequately established.²

For the second return, reports said prosecutors viewed the earlier supplementary investigation demands as not having been carried out. YTN reported that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office returned the refiled warrant on May 6 after concluding that the requested supplementary work had not been implemented.³ Dong-A Ilbo similarly reported that prosecutors returned the reapplication after determining that the supplementary investigation requests had not been reflected.⁶

Bang’s legal team has expressed regret that a detention warrant was sought despite what it described as cooperation with a long-running investigation. Dong-A Ilbo reported the defense position that Bang would “faithfully comply with future legal procedures.”⁶

The confirmed record therefore leaves the case in a procedural holding pattern. Police have twice sought a detention warrant, prosecutors have twice returned it, and the possible third Bang Si-hyuk warrant remains under review pending police analysis of the prosecution’s reasons and any additional supplementation of the investigation record.

작성자 소개

Cloi Lee

Author

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