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| ▲ Yang Hyun-suk, founder and former head of YG Entertainment, appears at the Seoul Central District Court on Nov. 14, 2022. (Yonhap) |
YG founder-acquittal
YG Entertainment founder acquitted of blackmail
By Kim Han-joo
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- Yang Hyun-suk, founder and former head of K-pop agency YG Entertainment, was acquitted on Thursday on charges of blackmailing an informant in an attempt to block an investigation into a drug scandal.
The Seoul Central District Court delivered a not-guilty verdict, saying that there is insufficient evidence that Yang had blackmailed the whistle blower in a concrete and direct way.
The K-pop guru was indicted on charges of threatening a former trainee who had testified to police in 2016 about drug suspicions surrounding B.I, a former member of YG's boy band iKON.
Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term for Yang, arguing that he thwarted an initial investigation into B.I by intimidating the informant.
Yang stepped down as chief producer of the company in June 2019 amid the probe.
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