By Bahk Eun-ji
Yang Hyun-suk, the former CEO and the chief producer of K-pop agency YG Entertainment, was questioned for nine hours by police over allegations that the 50-year-old provided prostitutes to foreign investors. YG Entertainment represents hugely successful K-pop acts such as Blackpink, BigBang and Psy.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Yang was grilled on Wednesday over the claims that he courted potential foreign investors at a fancy restaurant and arranged prostitution services for them in July 2014.
The probe came after local media broadcaster MBC’s investigative journalism programme Straight revealed allegations last month that Yang, Gangnam Style singer Psy and a YG employee had provided sex workers to a Malaysian business tycoon in 2014.
In the follow-up episode broadcast earlier this week, it alleged Yang arranged a “suspicious” investor trip to Europe in 2014 to entertain the Southeast Asian investor. During the trip, 10 prostitutes were said to have been arranged by a Madam Jung, allegedly a close friend of Yang suspected of providing women for Yang’s reception.
“Yang asked Madam Jung to do whatever the investor wanted,” the witness was quoted as saying on Straight.
Yang has denied all the allegations, police said.
In a related investigation, the police also summoned K-pop star Psy earlier this week, as he was also allegedly at the initial dinner with the investors. He was also questioned for over nine hours on June 16, and he also denied all the allegations.
K-pop star Seungri, a member of BigBang, retired from show business in March after he was accused of arranging sex services for potential investors.
Yang resigned from his post at the company earlier this month, and announced he had given up his control of the company, amid a series of scandals including drug issues involving the company’s artists.
The company’s ethical standards for its artists have come under scrutiny due to the drug scandals. Big Bang members G-Dragon and T.O.P. were accused of smoking marijuana in 2011 and 2017, and Park Bom, a member of 2NE1, was also accused in 2014 of illegally importing 80 Adderall pills, an amphetamine-based stimulant which is illegal in South Korea.
Recently, B.I, a member of K-pop boy band iKON under YG, left the band and terminated his contract with the company on June 12 over allegations that he bought LSD in 2016.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency announced on June 16 that it had launched a special team to look into the drug case, after local media reported allegations that Yang used his position to thwart a formal police investigation into B.I’s drug case in 2016.
