Police search singer Park's home in drug scandal
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Police officers search a vehicle owned by singer Park Yu-chun at his residence in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, to secure evidence of alleged illegal drug use earlier this year with his former fiancee Hwang Ha-na. Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
Police have searched the home of K-pop singer Park Yu-chun, Tuesday, in their investigation into a drug scandal involving his former fiancee.
The actor and member of boy band JYJ will be questioned today as well.
Eleven investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency searched Park's home in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, for about three hours in the morning, to secure evidence for the allegation that he and his former fiancee Hwang Ha-na, the granddaughter of Namyang Dairy Products founder Hong Du-yeong, used methamphetamine together.
The search followed testimony from Hwang who has already been arrested on drug charges.
The investigators searched a car, seized his mobile phone and took a hair sample for drug testing. Park stayed at home while the investigators conducted the search.
They also searched Hwang's studio apartment in Yongsan, Seoul, where she had lived for the last three months before her arrest.
Park will be questioned over the allegation on Wednesday at 10 a.m.
“During the press conference last week, Park stated he did not take any illegal drugs. But he decided to undergo questioning to clear all suspicions around him,” his lawyer said.
The singer is suspected of purchasing methamphetamine and using it with Hwang at her residence in Seoul earlier this year. Hwang has admitted to some of the drug charges and the police have already transferred her case to the prosecution.
During the investigation, the police secured Hwang's testimony that she took the drug with Park. She alleged that a celebrity encouraged her to try methamphetamine and injected the drug into her while she was asleep.
As suspicions emerged that Park is the celebrity, the singer held a press conference on April 10 to strongly deny the rumor by saying, “I have never used any illegal drugs, nor forced Hwang to use them.”
However, the police search suggests they secured evidence backing Hwang's account. Officers said Park's phone call records and surveillance camera recordings at her home showed Hwang's testimony is more reliable than Park's claims.
Police also imposed an overseas travel ban on Park last week.
No other celebrity has been found to be involved in the case so far, according to police.
Park and Hwang started dating in 2016. They announced they would marry in September 2017, but called off the wedding later and broke up last year.
Hwang had been involved in other drug use allegations in 2011 and 2015, but avoided criminal charges, even though her friend who used the drug with in the 2015 case testified that Hwang was the supplier. The friend received a 30-month prison sentence suspended for three years.