National Police Agency Commissioner Min Gap-ryong. [Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- South Korea's police chief vowed to organize a special team that would investigate all allegations related to YG Entertainment, a top entertainment powerhouse reeling from a series of drug and other scandals.
The special team of investigators will "thoroughly investigate all allegations" raised against YG Entertainment, National Police Agency Commissioner Min Gap-ryong told reporters on Monday.
The police chief said that the investigators have learned a lot from the Burning Sun case and fully utilize every know-how gained from past similar cases such as drug cases to thoroughly investigate until suspicions raised by South Korean citizens are completely cleared up.
A police investigation into drug use, sexual assault and violence at Burning Sun, a music and dance club associated with disgraced BIGBANG member Seungri, was launched after a 28-year-old man claimed in January that he was beaten by Burning Sun employees. The former BIGBANG member was accused of having used dance clubs to arrange sex for business favors from foreign investors.
During the investigation, police have found that Burning Sun employees also trafficked drugs. Also, a sex video scandal was exposed, forcing the departure of several celebrities including singer-songwriter Jung Joon-young. Jung was later arrested on charges of sharing illegally filmed sex video files with Seungri and other artists.
On June 14, Yang Hyun-suk, who produced popular bands such as BIGBANG, 2NE1 and BLACKPINK, resigned as YG head, complaining about the rampant circulation of rumors, two days after Kim Han-bin, known by his stage name B.I and a member of boy band iKON, left for attempting to buy drugs.
A woman, who was investigated for using drugs in 2016, argued that B.I has not been questioned by police because Yang forced her to change her testimony about the former iKON leader.