“Produce 101” Ahn Joon Young Requests For A Retrial To Lighten Sentence

Ahn Joon Young, who is responsible for the Produce 101 series, had previously been charged as guilty for fraud. However, it has been requested that the case be reopened for a retrial.

On the 18th of September 2020, under the criminal division of the Seoul High Courts, the first retrial of PD Ahn Joon Young and CP Kim Yong Beom was opened.

On this day, the prosecution stated that both Kim Yong Beom and Ahn Joon Young had set their own decisions for the debut group regardless of the viewers’ votes, and gave trainees devastation. His negative impact in society is huge. They also received bribery in the form of adult entertainment.

However, the defendants’ counsel claim that the agency representatives that were involved in the bribery had gotten off too lightly as they were trying to profit off bribing the PD of the show, and hence will be investigated once again as well as part of the retrial.

The lawyers in charge of Ahn Joon Young and Kim Yong Bum have claimed that although they acknowledge the facts of their actions, it was not their intention to have committed fraud. They also claim that despite the wrongdoings, they are requesting a retrial on the basis that they did not commit fraud in terms of the law and the company did not profit from it.

It was further continued that they had done so in order to raise the level of completeness for the show and it was not for personal gain. They claimed that the benefactor of the profits off votes were absorbed by the production company rather than them themselves.

Previously, Ahn Joon Young was sentenced to 2 years in jail and Kim Yong Bum was sentenced to a year and 8 months. However, this sentence may or may not be amended with the retrials.