By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Donga Ilbo CEO Kim Jae-ho and several senior staff members of the company are under investigation for making about 5 billion won ($3.9 million) through illegal stock trading, Yonhap reported Friday. This is the first time that a newspaper CEO has been involved in such allegations.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) told the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office last month that Kim and others obtained undisclosed information on a listed solar energy company through one of his relatives, who worked as an auditor at the firm at that time. Kim bought stocks on several occasions from January as the price doubled in less than six months.
In response, the Donga Ilbo, one of the nation's most influential conservative newspapers, denied the allegations. ``Stocks Kim bought were already an open source and he acquired them after looking at stockbroker reports. The Donga Ilbo does not buy illegal information,'' its spokesman was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
The FSS files a complaint with the prosecution after it secures evidence to back up irregularities ― if it cannot obtain this it requests an undercover investigation.
The Hankyoreh newspaper reported that the FSS was reluctant to make any statements regarding an ongoing ``secret'' inquiry, alleging it was trying to minimize public disclosure. Some analysts have suggested the possibility that the FSS is trying to cover up the affair, it reported.