Published : Nov. 9, 2019 - 12:45
Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, was summoned by police on Saturday for questioning into his alleged attempts to cover up drug suspicions surrounding one of the company's singers, officers said.
Yang, an idol-turned-K-pop guru who once led one of the country's biggest K-pop management firms, arrived at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency building in Suwon, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, to undergo interrogation into suspicions that he threatened a whistleblower who earlier reported to police that the singer B.I had bought drugs.
Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of YG Entertainment, arrives at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency building in Suwon, Saturday. (Yonhap)
Then Yang allegedly coerced him to change his earlier testimony and, in return, paid his lawyer fees.
The informant is known to be an acquaintance of B.I., a 23-year-old former member of YG's boy group iKON, and he came under police probe in August 2016 on his own drug charges.
Yang also faces charges of breach of duty, as he paid the fees with company money though the informant was not a YG employee.
Yang was also allegedly involved in attempts to have B.I flee and avoid police investigations, according to police officers.
Asked about his charges upon arrival at the agency building, Yang simply said, "I will faithfully undergo investigation."
The 49-year-old Yang was previously grilled by police about allegations that he, together with Seungri, a former member of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG, regularly gambled at hotel casinos in Las Vegas and violated foreign exchange law to secure gambling money.