Yang Hyun Suk sentenced to prison for covering up his "artist", about to leave YG, what will happen to BABYMONSTER?

On July 18, the Supreme Court of South Korea issued a final verdict, upholding the appeal verdict sentencing Yang Hyun Suk to 6 months in prison but suspended for one year.

From Indictment to Final Verdict: Conspiracy to Cover Up Drug Scandal

The incident began in 2016, when former YG trainee Han Seo Hee accused rapper BI (real name Kim Han Bin, former member of iKON) of purchasing and using illegal substances. This information immediately shocked the Kpop entertainment industry, leading to a rigorous investigation.

However, during the investigation, Yang Hyun Suk was accused of using his power and influence to force Han Seo Hee to change her testimony. According to the accusation, Yang is said to have made it clear that BI did not have to report to the police, even including the threat that it would be "easy to destroy" the female trainee if she did not obey.

Initially, the former YG chairman admitted to meeting Han Seo Hee to talk but firmly denied threatening her. Notably, in the first instance trial, Mr. Yang was found not guilty due to lack of specific evidence of threatening behavior. However, prosecutors did not accept this verdict and continued the investigation, focusing on the charges of forced meetings and psychological pressure.

On November 8, 2023, the Seoul High Court of Appeals reviewed the evidence and confirmed that Han Seo Hee had been forced to meet. The appeals court sentenced Mr. Yang to 6 months in prison, but it was changed to a 1-year suspended sentence. This sentence means that the former YG president will not be imprisoned immediately, but will be sentenced to prison if he reoffends during the 1-year probation period.

However, the prosecution, disagreeing with the sentence, which was considered too light compared to the seriousness of the case, decided to appeal to the Supreme Court. After a long period of consideration, in the trial on July 18, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal judgment. This is the final judgment, officially closing one of the most controversial and noisy cases in the Korean entertainment industry in recent years.

Yang Hyun Suk: From Kpop "boss" to a series of scandals and the collapse of the "throne"

Yang Hyun Suk, born in 1970, was once an icon of the Korean entertainment industry. He started his career as a member of the legendary boy band Seo Taiji and Boys in the early 1990s, achieving great success. After the group disbanded, he founded the entertainment company YG Entertainment in 1996, shaping a powerful Kpop empire.

Under the leadership of Yang Hyun Suk, YG Entertainment has produced a series of famous Kpop artists with global influence such as Big Bang, 2NE1, Winner, iKON, BLACKPINK , BABYMONSTER, Treasure ...

Yang Hyun Suk is considered one of the "Big 3" (three giants) of the Korean entertainment industry, on par with Lee Soo Man of SM Entertainment and Park Jin Young of JYP Entertainment. However, his career and reputation began to decline sharply from mid-2019.

In June of the same year, Yang Hyun Suk announced his resignation and left YG Entertainment after being suspected of being involved in a series of scandals involving his artists, creating an unprecedented "wave" of scandals in YG's history. These scandals severely damaged the company's image, causing its stock price to plummet and Yang Hyun Suk's reputation to plummet. His resignation was seen as a move to "save" the company's image.

In early 2023, after a period of absence, Yang Hyun Suk returned to YG Entertainment as a senior producer. His return received much attention, partly because of the successes he had created for YG in the past, and partly because of the controversies surrounding previous scandals.

However, with the suspended sentence just announced, Yang Hyun Suk's future and role at YG will likely continue to be a topic of interest to the public and investors. At this time, many fans are also worried about the fate of BABYMONSTER and YG's upcoming group.

Because Yang Hyun Suk is the one who plans the activities of the two groups in the future. If he resigns again, what will be the future of the female idols? Who will replace his position? Those are the questions that fans are asking.

BABYMONSTER "flops", YG struggles to find a BLACKPINK copy, regains its glory Phượng Vũ21:45:59 10/07/2025YG is facing increasing pressure to find a breakthrough group to maintain its position, especially when BABYMONSTER has not been able to explode and BLACKPINK's future is still uncertain.