YG Entertainment faces owner risks once again.
Yang Hyun Suk, head producer of YG Entertainment, has been charged with violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (related to customs). The Busan District Prosecutor’s Office indicted Yang without detention for allegedly bringing two luxury watches worth a total of ₩828,060,000 (approximately 617,000 USD) into Korea without declaring them to customs in September 2014.
Under Article 241 of the Customs Act, individuals importing goods must declare details such as the item’s name, quantity, and price. Failure to declare goods can result in up to five years of imprisonment or a fine up to ten times the customs duty, with stricter penalties if the undeclared item’s value exceeds ₩200 million but is less than ₩500 million.
YG Entertainment expressed its discontent, stating that the case was hastily prosecuted right before the statute of limitations expired. The company explained that Yang had voluntarily submitted the watches to authorities back in 2017 and cooperated fully with the investigation.
However, a media outlet reported that the watches were not sponsorship items, as Yang had allegedly requested specific watches from the Asian representative of the luxury brand before attending events in Singapore in September 2014. These included a skull-patterned watch valued at ₩711,510,000 and another black watch worth ₩116,550,000.
This recent charge adds to Yang’s existing legal issues, including a past fine for overseas gambling and ongoing trials for attempting to cover up drug allegations against a former iKON member. Yang’s first hearing for this new charge is set for November 15 at the Seoul Western District Court.
To compound matters, it was also revealed that Yang’s wife, Lee Eun Joo, a former member of the girl group Swi.T, was fined ₩12 million in 2020 for a drunk driving accident in Jeju, where her blood alcohol concentration was 0.120%, resulting in injuries to two individuals.
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