Court reduces jail term for Mnet producer accused of vote rigging in K-pop audition show

SEOUL, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- An appeals court on Wednesday reduced the prison sentence for the producer of a popular K-pop audition program to eight months in prison on charges of rigging the show's vote results in determining the final winners.

The chief producer of Mnet's show "Idol School," surnamed Kim, was previously sentenced to one year in prison by the lower court last year for rigging viewer votes when the show was aired between July and September 2017.

The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court upheld most of the lower court's conviction on Kim but found him not guilty on some charges, saying the votes he manipulated did not affect some episodes of the program.

The court, however, increased the sentence of the music cable channel's senior manager to four months in prison, suspended for one year, determining that he was an accomplice of the chief producer. The manager was previously ordered to pay a 10 million won (US$8,350) fine by a lower court.

"The defendants inflicted financial and mental damage to viewers who took part in the program's pay-to-vote sessions and also hurt the contestants who joined the show to become a K-pop group member," the court said.

"Idol School" aired from July to September 2017 to select members to debut a nine-member girl group, fromis 9, based on popularity votes by viewers. Despite the scandal, the group has stayed active in the K-pop scene.

It was one of several of Mnet's shows revealed to have rigged vote results in favor of certain contenders, which also included the popular "Produce" series. Two producers of the "Produce" series have also been sentenced to jail in a separate case.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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