Han Seo-hee finished 7 witness interrogations; The court: “No threat according to the report..Issues regarding her credibility”
Han Seo-hee, who claims to have been revenge threatened by former YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk, has completed the long witness interrogations.
Han Seo-hee, who claims to have been revenge threatened by former YG Entertainment CEO Yang Hyun-suk, has completed the long witness interrogations. The court has listened to Han Seo-hee’s testimony 7 times in 4 months and identified the fact that the revenge threat was not mentioned in public interest reports and Dispatch articles as a serious issue.
Former YG CEO Yang Hyun-seok attended the court on his violation of the law on the aggravated punishment of certain crimes (such as retaliation threats) held under the 23rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Cho Byung-kyu, Kim So-yang, and Kim Bu-sung) while and Han Seo-hee attended as a witness.
On the same day, the prosecution continued to question Han Seo-hee. When asked by the prosecution why she attempted suicide in early 2020, Han Seo-hee answered calmly, “I had a face-to-face questioning with former representative Yang Hyun-suk in January and was stressed by the prolonged investigation. I just wanted to let go of everything.”
In the previous trial, Han Seo-hee’s acquaintance, A, stated that Han Seo-hee asked them to ask for 1 billion won even if they had to use a burner phone. Han Seo-hee claimed that A’s statement at the time was a lie and that she would submit a transcript of their conversation. However, Han failed to submit the recording to the prosecution.
Prosecutors also asked about Han Seo-hee’s actions on August 23th, which she claimed she was threatened by former CEO Yang Hyun-suk. Han Seo-hee claimed that she arrived at the YG headquarters at around 8:40. However, by objective evidence, Han Seo-hee was still at Apgujeong until 8:00. According to Han Seo-hee, she had to go to her house from Apgujeong at 8:00 and arrive at the YG building in Hapjeong in about 40 minutes. Han Seo-hee said, “8:40 can be inaccurate as it was a guess. I definitely arrived before 9:00, not 10:00. When crossing the Han River, it was not dark outside.” The prosecutor then asked if there was any error in Han Seo-hee’s memory.
The prosecution also questioned the photo taken in the restroom of the YG building on the day Han Seo-hee was threatened. The prosecution also confirmed that there was no restroom where Han Seo-hee claimed to have taken the photo in the floor plan received from the district office. Han Seo-hee repeatedly claimed that she took the photo in a large restroom with several compartments during the cross-examination with CEO Yang Hyun-seok.
Yang Hyun-suk’s side asked Han Seo-hee for the last time if she made another whistle-blowing that was different from the truth for the purpose of demanding money and valuables. Han Seo-hee answered firmly, “No.”
The court then said, “If there’s a statement claiming to have been threatened since 2017, not 2019, it’ll be helpful in determining the credibility of the statement about the intimidation.”
Finally, Han Seo-hee stated that she was the victim. Han Seo-hee said in her last remark, “I’m not confident right now. I’m serving a sentence for another crime. I’m not appealing, I’m obviously a victim. I hope the accused gets a proper punishment. I even revealed the weaknesses that I didn’t want to reveal. I made this sacrifice to let you know.”
The court said that it would judge the case based on objective evidence, and that the credibility of the victim’s testimony is important. “The incident occurred 6 years ago and drew public interest. However, some of the testimonies do not match. It is therefore necessary to secure objective evidence in determining the credibility of said testimonies. Once the evidence is submitted, we will make a judgment based on it”, stated the court.
Former YG CEO Yang Hyun-suk is currently on trial on charges of forcing Han Seo-hee to change her testimony in order to dissuade B.I’s drug allegations in 2016.
On July 7, 2020, a urine test performed on Han Seo-hee showed positive results for psychotropic drugs such as methamphetamine and amphetamine. At that time, Han Seo-hee was already on probation after being sentenced to three years in prison and four years of probation in 2017 for violating the Drug Management Act. In 2021, she was sentenced to one year and six months in prison after being found guilty in the first trial and was arrested in court. Han Seo-hee then appealed against the sentence, but all her appeals were dismissed and her sentence was finally confirmed.
Source: daum
