Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, right, appears for questioning at the headquarters of the Financial Supervisory Service in Seoul, Oct. 23. Newsis

Kakao, the operator of Korea's top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, said Monday it will seek ways to strengthen compliance management and internal control amid stock manipulation allegations involving its executives.

In an executive meeting, Kakao's founder Kim Beom-su, CEO Hong Eun-taek and other executives agreed that the company is in an "emergency" situation and they will work to create a management system that meets "social standards," according to the company.

"Going through recent situations, I thought we should first reflect on what we did insufficiently and come up with a stronger system for ethics management and control both inside and outside the company," Kim said in the meeting.

Kakao has been accused of allegedly inflating the stock price of the K-pop agency SM Entertainment by investing some 240 billion won ($177.6 million) to win a bidding war against Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind global superstar BTS, in February.

Kakao and its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment together secured a nearly controlling 40 percent stake in the K-pop label with top-tier artists like NCT and EXO under its arm.

Last week, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the financial watchdog, referred Kakao, Kakao Entertainment and three of the company's senior executives, including chief investment officer, Bae Jae-hyun, who was arrested earlier this month, to prosecutors over the allegations.

Kim is also suspected of involvement in the case, but the FSS has yet to refer him to the prosecution. (Yonhap)