Blackpink label boss accused of providing prostitutes to investors
- YG Entertainment represents huge K-pop acts such as Blackpink, BigBang and Psy
- Label founder Yang Hyun-suk has denied allegations in an investigative TV programme that he provided sex workers to business investors on a night out
By Dong Sun-hwa
The allegations against Yang Hyun-suk were raised on Monday in an investigative report by South Korean television station MBC. The investigative programme Straight claimed a sex worker had provided incriminating testimony against Yang.
The report said Yang and an unnamed YG singer met two investors from Southeast Asia in July 2014 at a restaurant in Seoul’s Gangnam district. They were joined by eight other men and 25 women. Of the women, more than 10 belonged to an adult entertainment establishment linked to YG, the report said.
The group later headed to Club NB in Mapo district, western Seoul, which has close ties to Yang. The report said Yang provided the sex workers to the foreign investors there.
The MBC programme claimed one of the two investors came from Thailand and was also involved in the drug scandal implicating K-pop star Seungri.
“Yang was there because he was invited. But he did not mediate prostitution,” a spokesperson for YG said.
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Police said they would look into the case if any of the claims made in the MBC programme warranted an investigation.
The allegations against Yang took a toll on YG on Monday, with the company’s stock price falling 12.5 per cent.