B.I’s father attended Yang Hyun Suk’s trial as witness “YG official said, ‘Han Seo Hee lied, the statement was resolved well’”
The father of former iKON member B.I (Kim Han Bin) came forward as a witness at Yang Hyun Suk’s appeal trial.
On June 28th, the Seoul High Court’s Criminal Division 6-3 held the third trial on appeal for former YG CEO Yang Hyun Suk, who has been indicted on charges of violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment, etc., of Special Crimes (retaliatory threats).
B.I’s father A attended the trial as a witness. The prosecution asked, “Although Han Seo Hee lied, the witness doesn’t know what the lie was and whether Han Seo Hee and Kim Han Bin said they never bought LSD, right? Then how can you be so sure that Han Seo Hee told lies?”. In response, A said, “Company official Kim said that Han Seo Hee had lied”.
The prosecution then asked, “What did Kim say at the time?” A replied, “The matter was resolved well. When I asked how Han Seo Hee confessed, Kim said, ‘It was resolved well.’“
Yang Hyun Suk was indicted on charges of persuading and threatening Han Seo Hee to clear the drug charges of B.I. in 2016. Yang Hyun Suk consistently denied the claim that he called Han Seo Hee and told her, “(In the entertainment industry) killing you is nothing.”
However, in the first-instance trial, the prosecution sentenced Yang Hyun Suk to three years in prison, stating, “It is evident that he issued a warning that causes fear and harm.“
However, in December 2022, the first-instance court stated, “To punish for retaliatory threats or coercion, it is necessary for the reversal to occur when the victim’s freedom of will is suppressed by fear due to the defendant’s actions. Considering various circumstances, it has not been sufficiently proven that Yang Hyun Suk’s statement caused fear in the victim.” The court acquitted Yang Hyun Suk. In response, the prosecution submitted an appeal stating, “The first-instance court has misjudged the facts and legal interpretation.”
At the appeal trial, the prosecution stated, “The original trial acquitted the defendants, but Yang Hyun Suk was accused of meeting the victim at the YG building and engaging in acts of persuading or pressuring them, and agency officials were said to have aided these acts. The actions of the defendants in this case cannot be overlooked. Kim Han Bin (B.I), who was an icon leader of a popular idol group and received much love from the public, committed drug crimes such as LSD, and the defendants attempted to cover up Kim Han Bin’s crimes.”
Until the second trial, the defense lawyers denied the charges, stating, “There were no requests for false testimonies and no use of force”.
At the same time, Yang Hyun Suk’s lawyer further emphasized, “According to the statement, Han Seo Hee did not make any demands for money. She claimed that she would submit the recorded file, but when the prosecutor tried to retrieve Han Seo Hee’s phone, it was not there. When looking at Han Seo Hee’s statements, she kept changing her story whenever she was asked something. We cannot trust her statement.”
In 2021, B.I was sentenced to three years of probation and four years of suspended imprisonment for the charges of purchasing drugs such as LSD and marijuana, as well as taking and inhaling them several times. The court at the time also ordered him to perform 80 hours of community service, attend 40 hours of drug treatment lectures, and pay a fine of 1.5 million won.
Source: Nate
