YGE head Yang Hyun Suk apologizes and releases official statement on Seungri's 'Burning Sun' club controversy

YG Entertainment head Yang Hyun Suk apologized and released official statement on Seungri's 'Burning Sun' club controversy.

In an official statement posted to YG Entertainment's official blogon January 31, Yang Hyun Suk said the following:

"I personally hope to always give you good news, and I very much apologize to the worried fans for speaking up when unexpected negative rumors like this occur.

Sudden negative rumors are like unexpected rain falling from clear skies.

YG manages aspects related to our artist activities through our exclusive contracts with them, and we continuously revise our contracts and management systems to prevent recurrences of unfortunate incidents and mistakes. 

To add, we always check by emphasizing, advising, and educating our artists on what to be careful of by conversing with them, and we're putting in our full effort to prevent potential disgraceful incidents beforehand. 

However, like they say 'bad news travels fast,' and I think it's very difficult to tell artists to be careful in preparation for groundless, negative rumors spread by word of mouth.

Regarding the negative rumors on Seungri's club, I wanted to confirm the truth and give a fast response since the beginning. However, it was an awkward situation for YG to speak up as our artists' personal businesses are not related to YG. There was a lot of difficulty even after confirming the facts.

The difficulty came with the fact that I've never gone to this club and do not know the people related to the club, so I did not have a way to ask anyone of the details of the situation.

The only person to ask was Seungri, and I found on the day of the incident, Seungri was on the scene until 3AM on November 24 KST. The incident occurred past 6AM KST. 

The reason Seungri recently resigned as an executive director of the club was to comply with laws regarding his upcoming military service coming on March or April.

According to article 30 of the 'Framework Act on Military Status and Service,' a soldier cannot engage in any for-profit activity other than military service and cannot concurrently engage in other activity without permission from the Minister of National Defense.' It's specifically written, 'Soldiers are prohibited from being directors, financial managers, general partners in business, managers, promoters, or any other executives of business.'

I confirmed that because of this reason, Seungri is in the process of resigning from the club but from all CEO and executive director positions he's associated with. 

Seungri himself is also feeling very apologetic to fans who must have worried after this incident, and though he was going to share his own position through an apology post, I told him to hold off for the moment.

This is because I decided it would be better for him to share his position following the entire investigation when the whole story will be revealed. 

The focus is currently turning away from the assault to a drug investigation. To share with fans who are worried, Seungri recently underwent a hard-handed investigation by the prosecution with a search and seizure warrant due to groundless reports, and it was revealed clearly there were no issues with all his examinations including urine and hair testing.

I feel apologetic I'm not able to give positive New Year's greetings, and I'll soon greet you again with an announcement on Black Pink's new music, the criteria for 'YG Treasure Box' selection and debut plans, and happy news about new music from YG artists like WINNER and iKON."

Stay tuned for updates.