Yesterday (Monday, 8th August), the eighth trial on Yang Hyun Seok (양현석)’s ongoing case was held at the Seoul Central District Court. Han Seo Hee (한서희) also appeared as a witness for the case. For those in the dark, the former YG Entertainment CEO has been indicted on charges of violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (revenge threat).
As per KpopStarz’s report, the trial was centered on Han’s charges of threatening retaliation against the famed music executive. She claimed that the former YG CEO had forced her to remain silent about former iKON member B.I’s drug scandal. Following the witness interrogation with the former YG trainee, the court has disclosed more details about the allegations.
Back in 2016, Han was under investigation after she was caught smoking marijuana with T.O.P from BIGBANG. During the same year, she would then make the shocking exposure regarding B.I’s illegal drug purchase, and claimed that Yang had threatened and coaxed her to reverse her statement. The latter later responded by saying that he had never met Han.
During the trial, she also talked about her attempted suicide in 2020. The 27-year-old said, “I conducted a cross-examination with Yang Hyun Suk in January of that year. As it got longer and there was so much trauma, I thought, ‘Why did I make this an incident?’ and I wanted to let it go. I just made that choice thinking that it would be over if I disappeared.”
However, prosecutors went on and questioned her why there was no mention of the threats from public interest reports, including her interview with JTBC. To this, Han explained, “I went out and attended the interview myself. I was scared, so I used a stand-in but the voice (in the interview) was mine.”
As the trial proceeded, Yang’s legal rep then questioned Han about her telling her acquaintance “A” that she would cover up the case if the former CEO offered her cash. The ex-trainee later refuted the claims and explained that she made no such statement. However, Han failed to hand in the recording to the prosecution. She then said, “I couldn’t find it and submit it because my mother was busy. I’ll turn in the recording. It’s frustrating.”
The lawyer also pointed out that there were inconsistencies in Seo Hee’s initial statement regarding the accusation. At the end, the court stated, “The incident took place six years ago and gained public interest but some of the testimonies do not match. It is necessary to secure objective evidence to find out the credibility of the testimony because the statement and the phenomenon are not consistent. When the evidence is submitted, we will judge based on it.”
In response, Han emphasised that she was the victim in the case. According to her, “I myself am serving a sentence for another case, so I don’t feel proud. But in this case I am clearly the victim. This is an unforgivable crime. I hope the accused will be punished severely after I have revealed all my deepest secrets.”
In case you don’t know, Han has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison after she was caught taking drugs during her probation period.
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