The former representative of singer Young Tak, who was brought to trial on charges of 'music source manipulation,' has been imprisoned.
Park Byeong-gon, the judge of the 5th criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court, sentenced Lee Jae-kyu, the representative of Milagro, to 8 months in prison and ordered imprisonment on the 4th for charges of obstruction of business using a computer.
Nine officials from other entertainment and public relations agencies were also sentenced to prison terms ranging from 6 months to 2 years or suspended sentences for participating in the so-called music source manipulation to manipulate streaming numbers and elevate rankings.
Lee was charged in May last year for allegedly soliciting a marketing operator for music source manipulation to raise the chart ranking of Young Tak's song 'Why Are You Here?' released in 2019.
The court noted, 'Music rankings are an important factor that influences consumers' choices on what music to listen to,' adding that 'music source manipulation' could distort the distribution order of the music market.
It further criticized the defendants, stating that 'their actions should be seriously punished for causing significant psychological distress to trainees who are diligently working hard even at this moment.'
Meanwhile, the prosecution previously ruled that there was no evidence against singer Young Tak.