K-Pop: B.I admits drug use, ex-YG chief to be summoned over alleged cover-up

Former leader of K-pop band iKON B.I, real name Kim Han-bin, leaves the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency after interrogation on Wednesday (Yonhap) via The Korea Herald

SEOUL — The ex-chief of YG Entertainment, the label that represents the K-pop band iKON, will soon be summoned after the band’s former leader admitted to some of the drug allegations against him, police said Wednesday.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said B.I, whose real name is Kim Han-bin, admitted to past drug use during an interrogation Tuesday.

Kim was grilled for some 14 hours on suspicion of buying marijuana from an acquaintance in 2016 and smoking it.

The investigators will continue to look into the details of Kim’s alleged crimes, as some of his statements were not corroborated by the acquaintance. The police plan to refer the case to the prosecution.

Police will also summon Yang Hyun-suk, the former head of YG Entertainment, in Kim’s case. Yang is suspected of attempting to cover up drug use by Kim in 2016 by pressuring the acquaintance to recant statements she had made to the police.

The acquaintance, widely known as a female singer, was briefly detained and questioned by police in August 2016 and is said to have admitted to an online exchange of messages with Kim about a drug purchase. She later recanted, and Kim was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence.

In June this year, however, the acquaintance filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, saying Yang had threatened her a day after the interrogation and had pressured her into recanting.

Yang is currently the subject of a separate police probe, which deals with overseas gambling and soliciting sex for foreign investors.