Supreme Court Confirms Suspended Sentence for Composer Kim Chang-hwan Convicted of Abusing Teen Idol Singer

On the afternoon of December 26, 2018, Kim Chang-hwan, chairman of Medialine Entertainment, speaking at a press conference held at the Textile Center Event Hall in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to refute allegations of assault involving members of the teenage boy group The East Light.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The chairman of Media Line Entertainment, Kim Chang-hwan (57), who was indicted for neglecting and directly abusing members of the teenage boy band 'The East Light,' has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Judge Lee Dong-won) on the 26th upheld the original sentence of 8 months imprisonment with a 2-year suspension for Kim, who was charged with violating the Child Welfare Act (neglect and abuse of children).

Moon, a PD who was indicted alongside Kim on charges including habitual child abuse, also had his original sentence of 1 year and 4 months imprisonment confirmed.

Moon PD was charged with habitual child abuse for repeatedly assaulting Lee Seok-cheol (19) and Lee Seung-hyun (18), who were active in The East Light, for about three years starting in 2015.

Kim was charged with neglecting child abuse by failing to actively stop Moon PD’s assaults despite knowing about them, and with emotional abuse for encouraging Lee Seung-hyun to use an electronic cigarette and hitting his head.

Earlier, in the first and second trials, it was acknowledged that on June 13, 2017, at the company building’s 5th-floor studio, Kim saw Moon PD holding the then 15-year-old Lee Seung-hyun by the hair with one hand and holding a wooden stick in the other. Despite hearing Lee Seung-hyun say “Please save me,” Kim did not stop Moon PD and instead told him to “take it easy” before leaving.

Kim argued in court that Lee Seung-hyun never informed him of the abuse and that there were no outward signs to suspect abuse, so he had no intent to neglect child abuse, but this was not accepted.

Additionally, the first and second trials applied Article 17, Paragraph 5 of the Child Welfare Act, which prohibits emotional abuse, to Kim’s act of encouraging Lee Seung-hyun to try an electronic cigarette and then hitting the back of his head with his palm when Lee refused and instead put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it, ruling that this constituted emotional abuse without physical injury.

The Supreme Court also agreed with the second trial’s judgment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.