YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun Suk has denied charges of attempting to cover up B.I‘s drug scandal.
Yang Hyun Suk’s first trial for charges including retaliatory threats and covering up a case was held today at the Seoul Central District Court. This is the first time he has appeared at court in-person for a trial since his indictment in May 2021.
Yang Hyun Suk’s lawyer commented that Yang Hyun Suk never forced the informant to make a false statement.
It is true that Yang Hyun Suk met informant A, but he never threatened her or forced her to make a false statement.
— Yang Hyun Suk’s legal counsel
The presiding judge then turned to Yang Hyun Suk himself, and asked him if he had the same statement, and Yang Hyun Suk replied that he did.
According to the prosecution’s indictment, Yang Hyun Suk was charged with threatening informant A to go back on her statement related to B.I’s drug case. He was accused of making verbal threats towards informant A such as “You need to be a nice person”, “I can see see all of your records”, and “killing someone like you is nothing.”
Back in 2019, it was revealed that B.I had purchased marijuana and LSD through informant A in 2016. B.I then withdrew from iKON and initially denied all allegations against him. Through his new agency IOK Company, he released a statement that he admit to his past mistakes, and vowed to be a better person in the future. He was sentenced to four years probation, with three years in prison should he violate probation.
