Supreme Court Upholds Six-Month Prison Sentence
with One-Year Suspension
Yang Hyunsuk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, who was indicted on charges of threatening a whistleblower to cover up the drug investigation of singer B.I, is heading to the courtroom to attend the appellate sentencing hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu on the afternoon of November 8, 2023. Photo by Yonhap News
Yang Hyunsuk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, who was put on trial for attempting to cover up the drug investigation involving B.I (real name Kim Hanbin), a former member of the idol group iKON, has received a final sentence of imprisonment with a suspended sentence.
The First Division of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Ma Yongju, on July 18 confirmed the lower court’s ruling, which sentenced Yang to six months in prison with a one-year suspended sentence, on charges including coercion of an interview under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Yang was indicted on charges of persuading and threatening "A," a trainee who in 2016 was arrested on drug charges and testified to police about B.I’s alleged drug purchase, in order to block the investigation into B.I.
At the time, "A" claimed that although B.I became a subject of investigation for related charges, the investigation was quashed due to collusion between the police and YG. In particular, "A" asserted that police failed to investigate B.I despite having obtained evidence of drug use, and that Yang was at the center of this. In June 2019, "A" also reported the case to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC).
After receiving the materials from the ACRC, prosecutors reviewed the investigation results and brought four individuals, including B.I and Yang, to trial. Prosecutors argued that Yang threatened "A" by saying, "It’s nothing for me to ruin your career in the entertainment industry. You should be a good kid."
The court of first instance acquitted Yang. The court stated, "It appears that he tried to persuade and pressure the victim to recant testimony in a criminal case, but based solely on the evidence presented by the prosecution, it is difficult to recognize that he went beyond persuasion and psychological pressure to specifically and directly threaten the victim by saying, 'It’s nothing for me to ruin you.'" Thus, a not-guilty verdict was issued.
In response, the prosecution added the charge of coercion of an interview as an alternative indictment in the second trial, and ultimately secured a guilty verdict in the appellate court. The Supreme Court also found the appellate court’s decision to be correct.
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