YG Entertainment’s misery seem to have no ending, with the latest being the voluntary resignation of Yang Hyun Suk. As announced on Friday, Yang Hyun Suk stepped down from all his positions in YG Entertainment amid the controversy of involvement in B.I’s illegal drugs scandal and supply of prostitute to business partners.
The year seem to be jinxed for one of the top Entertainment companies in South Korea. YG came in to bad light at the start of this year when ex-Big Bang member Seungri got caught up in the Burning Sun controversy. Things got even more entangled for him when it was revealed that Seungri was one of the active members in a Kakao chat group created by Jung Joon Young to share pornographic videos and images without the consent of the women involved.
This controversy and the number of top artists involved in it shook the Kpop industry and its fans. The next issue looming around and still under investigation is on tax evasion by YG. There were reports that YG presented incorrect earnings in order to evade tax liability. The company didn’t show the entire earnings from its artists’ overseas performances rather it was added to individual earnings of the artist. There are also some irregularities found in the stock transaction of the agency which is considered to be carried out with Yang Hyun Suk’s knowledge.
iKon, who’s ‘Love Scenario’ bagged Golden Disk Song of the Year Award 2019, saw the exit of its rapper and singer-songwriter B.I. after being accused for trying to purchase illegal drugs. Dispatch, a local media outlet in South Korea, exposed this news on the grounds of a Kakao chat between the ex-iKon member and a convicted drug offender. Where the rapper insistently asked for some LSD, even after repeatedly being warned on turning into an addict by the other person in the chat. B.I stated the reason for buying drugs that he wanted to become a genius. In June, he announced his exist through an Instagram announcement.
Two days later, YG Entertainment’s Yang Hyun Suk announced his resignation. There are suspicion that Yang Hyun Suk may have suppressed Han Seo Hee's testimony on B.I’s drug issue. However, YG denied such allegations.
Prior to this, there were reports of Yang bringing in prostitutes for his business partners. In light of the rumors, Yang Hyun Suk departed from YG. Following his footsteps, Yang’s younger brother Yang Min Suk also stepped down from his position at YG Entertainment within few hours.
As the investigation goes on, only evidenced and testimonies could shed light on which allegations were true and which were meant to defame the artist or the company. For now, the kpop fans and especially the fans of the artists in YG Entertainment are in grave despair with the events unfolded since the beginning of this year.
