Yang Hyunsuk acquitted of retaliatory intimidation, found guilty of “coercion of meeting”; receives a one-year suspended sentence.
SUMMARY
Yang is found guilty of making Han Seo Hee have a meeting, and not guilty of threatening her.Suspended sentence means if he does not commit any new crimes for 1 year, he will not have to serve the 6 months in prison.He's not going to jail for now.
TIMELINE
August 2016
Han was detained on drug charges and testified that BI had purchased and used drugs.
Yang Hyunsuk allegedly summoned her to YG’s office and coerced her to retract her testimony, the basis for the initial charge of "retaliatory intimidation". June 2019
She reported Yang to the police for threatening and pressuring her to reverse her testimony.
December 2022 – 1st Trial (Seoul District Court)
Yang was tried for retaliatory intimidation (보복 협박).
The court acquitted him, stating that the victim’s testimony was unreliable and there was no concrete threat to support the charge.
The prosecution appealed and added a new charge of “coercion of meeting”.
November 2023 – 2nd Trial (Seoul High Court)
The High Court upheld the acquittal for retaliatory intimidation.
However, it found Yang guilty of “coercion of meeting,” .
The court ruled that Han’s claim that Yang said, “Killing someone like you would be easy, it’s nothing,” was not credible. source
Yang was sentenced to 6 months in prison, suspended for 1 year.
Yang appealed the ruling.
July 2025 – Final Appeal (Supreme Court)
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s ruling.
Yang’s guilt for coercing a meeting was confirmed and the sentence finalized.
Notes
The legal debate during Supreme Court review focused on whether Yang's actions met the legal threshold for "coercion of meeting", especially in terms of consent, power dynamics, and intent.
Yang’s reprimanding and persuading statements, thus, it maintained a not guilty verdict on the retaliatory intimidation charge. However, the court found Yang guilty of using undue influence to get Han to reverse her statement.
