'Produce Ranking Manipulation' PD An Jun-young Sentenced to Prison in Second Trial... Court Names Victimized Trainees

'Produce 101 Season 2' / Photo by Mnet

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Ahn Jun-young, the PD of the music channel Mnet's audition program 'Produce 101' series, who was prosecuted for vote manipulation, was sentenced to imprisonment again in the appellate court following the first trial.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judges Jung Jun-young, Song Young-seung, Kang Sang-wook) on the 18th sentenced Ahn PD to 2 years in prison for fraud and other charges, the same as the first trial. The confiscation of approximately 37 million KRW was also upheld. Kim Yong-beom CP (Chief Producer), who was previously sentenced to 1 year and 8 months in prison, received the same sentence as in the first trial.

The court criticized, "The defendants significantly undermined the fairness of the broadcasting program," adding, "They deceived and mocked the trainees who appeared on the program and the viewers." It further stated, "The greatest victims in this case are the trainees who were unfairly eliminated due to the defendants' rank manipulation," pointing out, "Some trainees were unjustly deprived of opportunities to increase their recognition by appearing on the broadcast or to officially debut and become singers."

Ahn PD is accused of manipulating the paid text message voting results of viewers during the live competition broadcasts of 'Produce 101' seasons 1 to 4 to benefit specific candidates. He is also charged with accepting entertainment expenses worth tens of millions of KRW from entertainment agency officials (embezzlement). The first trial recognized these charges as guilty and sentenced Ahn PD and Kim CP to imprisonment, while assistant PD Lee and five executives of the agencies were fined between 5 million and 10 million KRW.

Mnet 'Produce X 101' PD An Jun-young
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The appellate court also found all of these charges to be guilty. It stated, "The names of the trainees who were eliminated due to rank manipulation must be revealed for substantial compensation to be possible," and listed the names of the affected trainees. The trainees disclosed in court are ▲ Season 1: Kim Su-hyun, Seo Hye-rin ▲ Season 2: Sung Hyun-woo, Kang Dong-ho ▲ Season 3: Lee Ga-eun, Han Cho-won ▲ Season 4: Anjardi Dimode, Kim Guk-heon, Lee Jin-woo, Koo Jung-mo, Lee Jin-hyuk, Geum Dong-hyun, totaling 12 individuals.

However, the court stated, "Although it would be best to disclose the list of trainees whose ranks were manipulated favorably, we will not reveal it." The reasons cited include that the trainees who were favorably manipulated by Ahn PD and others were unaware of the manipulation, and that disclosure could instead make them targets of criticism.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.