YG head Yang Hyun-suk gets 6-month suspended sentence for coercion

Supreme Court finalized verdict against Yang over cover-up in singer B.I's drug case

Yang Hyun-suk (left), executive producer of YG Entertainment, enters the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, July 4. (Yonhap)

Yang Hyun-suk, executive producer of YG Entertainment, was sentenced by the Supreme Court on Friday to six months in prison, suspended for one year, for attempting to cover up singer B.I's drug case.

Yang was convicted of coercing former K-pop trainee Han Seo-hee in August 2016, demanding she retract her statement regarding B.I's drug use.

At the time, Han was under police investigation for drug use and had initially implicated B.I, then a member of the YG boy band iKON, in drug-related activities. She later reversed her statement but reported in 2019 to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission that she had been pressured to take her statement back.

The district court initially acquitted Yang, ruling there was no significant evidence showing Yang had made direct and specific threats to Han. Prosecutors appealed, adding a charge during the second trial that Yang coerced Han into a meeting. The crime of coercing someone into a meeting applies when a person exerts pressure on the victim of a crime, the victim’s acquaintances or someone who intends to file a complaint or accusation.

The appeals court upheld Yang's acquittal on the charge of making threats but found him guilty of coercing a meeting, stating that “he exercised unjust influence over the victim without rightful cause.”

Following the ruling, Yang released a statement saying, “Though I regret the Supreme Court’s decision, I humbly accept it,” and added, “I will devote myself more responsibly and carefully to my work going forward.”

When the drug case surfaced in 2019, B.I left iKON. He later admitted during the police investigation to smoking marijuana and purchasing LSD. In September 2021, he received a sentence of three years in prison, suspended for four years. He is currently active as a solo artist.