▲ Yang Hyun-suk attends trial on charges of refusing to investigate B.I’s drug investigation
Yang Hyun-suk (52), former YG Entertainment general producer (CEO), who was indicted on charges of refusing a drug purchase investigation by BI (25, Kim Han-bin), a former member of the idol group ‘iKON’, was held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 5th. He is present at the first trial for violation of the Act on Punishment, etc. (threat of retaliation, etc.). 2021.11.5
News 1
A court testimony came out that Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, threatened to overturn his statement by threatening to cover up the drug case of his singer B.I (real name Kim Han-bin).
On the 18th, the 23rd Criminal Settlement Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Cho Byeong-gu) held the third trial of Yang, who was handed over to trial on charges of retaliation and threats. On that day, A, a former singer trainee, who exposed the allegations of refusing to investigate B.I’s drug investigation, appeared as a witness.
Mr. A said, “Ex-CEO Yang said, ‘You have to make a statement before you can go to Japan and get rid of all the drugs, and (drug test) comes out negative, but my cubs hate going to the police station. If you don’t do it, I said, ‘You’re going to be in the entertainment industry or the entertainment industry, but it’s not a matter of killing you alone'”, he testified. In August 2017, Mr. A was called to the YG headquarters in Mapo-gu, Seoul the day after he stated that he had rescued marijuana through repeated requests from B.I during a police investigation.
Mr. A said that Yang changed his attitude after checking the contents of the Kakao Talk conversation with B.I in the cell phone he gave to the police, and threatened and conciliated.
Person A said, “Defendant Yang Hyun-seok said on the spot, ‘I am a person who can see all statements. When the prosecutor asked if it was true that he said, ‘If I reverse my statement, I will pay a fee and appoint a lawyer’, I answered, “Yes.”
Person A said, “I was so scared for two hours that I just kept looking at the ground and answering.” “I thought I would die if I didn’t listen to this person. Regarding what he said to the police officer who investigated the B.I case in the past, “If Yang Hyun-suk gave me 500 million won, I would have shut my mouth,” he explained. The intention is that the words were taken lightly during the mediation process by a police officer at the time to have him respond to a media interview to the effect that he had a hard time at the time of reversing his statement.
Former CEO Yang was handed over to trial on charges of threatening to reverse his statement by Mr. A in relation to B.I’s drug purchase case. Afterwards, Mr. A reported the incident to the media in June 2019.
Yang’s representative denied the allegations, saying it was true that he met Mr. A, but did not threaten him or force him to make false statements. The court decided to call Mr. A one more time on the 25th and continue the cross-examination. Person A is currently serving a sentence for a separate drug case.
Reporter Jin Seon-min