Article: Yang Hyun Suk steps down from YG...No impact on activities...influence will continue"
Source: Yonhap News
Industry insiders believe that Yang Hyun Suk's resignation is all for show.
Yang Hyun Suk resigned on the 14th amid drug scandal allegations and naturally because he was the Chief Executive producer, a lot of attention is being paid to YG's future.
YG had focused its weight on Yang Hyun Suk as he directly supervised all the content produced, including discovering and nurturing trainees, and creating music and music video content. Although he had many other experts working under him, YG was like a one-man management agency where Yang Hyun Suk had the most influence and would make decisions in-house and announce contents directly. This is the reason why Yang Hyun Suk is facing criticism for its artists series as scandals, ranging from former Big Bang member Seungri with Burning Sun scandal and former iKON member B.I ongoing drug scandal.
Industry insiders are speculating about Yang Hyun Suk's influence even after his resignation. An industry insider said, "It's possible that he might still have influence over YG's current artists. With the resignation of his brother, who was CEO at the company, they are trying to focus on reorganization but the aftermath is likely to be messy for a long time."
Some industry insiders were skeptical of Yang Hyun Suk completely removing himself from YG business if he doesn't divest of his majority share ownership at the company. According to YGE's May Quarterly report, Yang Hyun Suk owns 16.12% in common stock but he isn't officially listed as a board member. His brother, Yang Min Suk owns 3.31%.
A CEO of an entertainment agency stated, "Just like how the former Exec Director of Korean Air (Cho Hyun Min) returned to business after he was accused of throwing a glass at an employee, big companies just follow the typical "manual" response in these types of situations. Yang Hyun Suk is "representative producer" so it doesn't matter what his official title is. He has a lot of influence in production so it doesn't matter if he steps down. It's even easier in his (YHS) case because he's still a major shareholder."
A director from a music promotion company said, "When you visit the comment section of most job websites, there are many comments asking "why YG needs hundreds of employees when one person does everything anyway." All the executives are all on Yang Hyun Suk's side so he'll continue having influence directly and indirectly."
There are increased calls for investigation into YG Entertainment and Yang Hyun Suk for suspicions of drug use and police collusion with regards to B.I's case. The result of this investigation will gauge the future of YG and Yang Hyun Suk.