What Happened... Han Seo-hee Suddenly Says "I Do Not Want Yang Hyun-suk Punished"

"Four Years of Trial... Thought It Was Like Hitting a Rock with an Egg"

Han Seo-hee, a former trainee who claimed to have been threatened by former YG Entertainment Chief Producer (CEO) Yang Hyun-suk, stated that she "does not want punishment for former CEO Yang Hyun-suk."

Photo by Han Seo-hee SNS

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 6-3 (Presiding Judges Lee Eui-young, Won Jong-chan, Park Won-cheol) held a trial on the 25th for former CEO Yang, who was indicted on charges including retaliatory threats under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and conducted witness questioning with Han Seo-hee.

Han Seo-hee said, "During the four years of the trial, I felt like I was hitting a rock with an egg. I am very exhausted," adding, "What I wanted was just a sincere apology from former CEO Yang. Rather than proving his guilt and wanting him to be punished, I just want to end this fight."

However, she did not change her previous claims. She alleged that in August 2016, after being arrested on drug charges and testifying about the drug purchase allegations of BI (Kim Han-bin), a former member of YG's group iKON, former CEO Yang called her to the company building and forced her to retract her statement by saying, "I hate that my kid is going to the police station," and "Killing you is nothing."

Former YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk is attending the first appeal trial related to charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, last April.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

When Yang’s defense attorney asked, "Did you continue to contact other YG artists and smoke drugs even after feeling threatened and fearful?" she retorted, "Are you forcing me to act like a victim?"

Regarding the question of whether she made a 'deal' in exchange for retracting her statement and receiving money, she replied, "Wasn't the deal made by former CEO Yang? If I had received any compensation, this case would not have become public."

Former CEO Yang was brought to trial on charges of coercing and threatening Han, who reported to the police about BI (real name Kim Han-bin), the leader of YG's male group iKON, who was arrested in 2016 on drug trafficking and use charges, in order to cover up the investigation.

Both former CEO Yang and Han acknowledged that they met and talked at the YG Entertainment building regarding BI's drug investigation. The prosecution demanded a three-year prison sentence for former CEO Yang.

In the first trial last December, the court acquitted former CEO Yang. The court acknowledged that Yang requested a retraction of the statement but did not see Han as being in a situation where her freedom of decision was infringed upon to the extent of feeling fear.

The court announced that it plans to conclude the trial procedures for former CEO Yang on the 27th of next month, hear the final arguments and prosecution's sentencing recommendation, and then deliver the verdict.

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