The core of this controversy lies in the clever structural design of the exchangeable bonds (EB) issued by Intops. The company issued EBs worth 13 billion won in October last year, with the condition that the company could exercise a call option to collect the bonds if the stock price exceeded a certain level. The problem is that this structure acted as a ‘shackle’ that suppressed the rise in stock prices. Rather than making a profit when the stock price rises, private bondholders have an incentive to secure investment profits by inducing a decline through short-selling strategies, etc. In fact, Intops suffered the stigma of being designated as an overheated short-selling stock several times immediately after its issuance. In this situation, when it became known that the owner family had purchased shares at a time when the stock price was depressed, suspicions that the stock price was intentionally managed for succession work grew out of control.

The President's public criticism led to immediate intervention by financial authorities. The three major financial institutions, including the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Exchange, have decided to closely investigate Intops's disclosure adequacy and whether it engages in unfair trading. This is a strong pressure that goes beyond the normal level of monitoring, and it is a huge test for companies to prove transparency in their overall management. The reason why CEO Kim Geun-ha, who was at the forefront of management as the eldest son and second-generation owner of founder Kim Jae-kyung, suddenly resigned with three years remaining in his term appears to have been due to the judgment that it would be difficult to overcome the authorities' investigation and the market's cold gaze head-on.

Intops sought to appease the market by announcing a large-scale shareholder return policy worth 30.5 billion won along with a change in management. The company decided to cancel all of its treasury stocks worth 17.5 billion won and enter into a treasury stock trust contract worth an additional 13 billion won. The cancellation of treasury stock is considered one of the most powerful shareholder-friendly policies, directly increasing the value per share by reducing the number of shares in circulation. This can be interpreted as an expression of the company's strong will to prove the company's intrinsic value to shareholders even after the management change and to wash away the stigma of the past. The new CEO Kim Hyeon-ryang's system is faced with the enormous task of improving the organization's structure and restoring management stability in a rapidly changing business environment.

The market's reaction is met with mixed expectations and concerns. Some expect that the transition to a professional manager system will make corporate governance more transparent and serve as an opportunity to break away from the owner-centered, arbitrary decision-making method of the past. However, uncertainty remains as the results of the financial authorities' investigation into the fundamental suspicion of ‘stock price management’ have not yet been released. How the new management will manage legal and administrative risks that may arise as a result of future investigation results and how sincerely they will enhance shareholder value will be important criteria in determining Intops' corporate value in the future. This incident will be recorded as an important example that reminds us of how transparent market principles Korean listed companies must break away from the shadow of owner management.