SEOUL, July 18 — YG Entertainment’s founder and chief producer, Yang Hyun-suk, has been convicted of intimidating a whistleblower to suppress a drug-related allegation involving a former YG artist.
As reported by the Korea JoongAng Daily, the Supreme Court upheld the appellate court’s ruling today, which sentenced Yang to six months in prison, suspended for one year. He was found guilty of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which covers retaliatory threats and coercing individuals into meetings.
Yang was indicted in May 2020 without detention, following accusations of meddling in the police investigation into illegal drug use by B.I, a former member of the boy band iKON.
The case stemmed from an incident in August 2016 when a former YG trainee testified against B.I during her own investigation for drug-related charges. Yang allegedly summoned her to his office and pressured her to retract her testimony.
While Yang acknowledged meeting the trainee, he denied any threats of false testimony. Ultimately, B.I received a suspended three-year prison sentence.
In the first trial of 2022, Yang was acquitted due to “insufficient evidence.” During the second trial in November 2023, the court upheld the acquittal but added the charge of coercing meetings, to which Yang was found guilty. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for a year.
The appellate court noted that Yang’s superior position in the entertainment industry, combined with the circumstances of the meeting, made it coercive, even if he did not explicitly assert his power.
Yang appealed the decision, but the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
The daily reported Yang as saying, “I am disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision, but I humbly accept the ruling. I will carry out my primary duties with greater caution and responsibility going forward.”
