Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Actor Yoo Ah-in sentenced to 1 year in prison for drug use
Actor Yoo Ah-in enters the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Actor Yoo Ah-in was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday for habitual drug use.
The court also ordered Yoo to pay a 2 million won ($1,490) fine and his immediate detention.
Yoo, 38, whose real name is Um Hong-sik, had been charged with using drugs illegally and destroying evidence, violating Korea's Narcotics Control Act.
The prosecution had sought a four-year prison sentence for Yoo.
Choi, 33, Yoo's acquaintance who was indicted for using marijuana with Yoo, was handed eight months behind bars with his sentence deferred for two years.
Yoo was indicted in October last year on charges of habitually abusing propofol, a sedative that requires a prescription, 181 times under the pretext of cosmetic procedures at hospitals in Seoul from September 2020 to March 2022, for which he was found guilty.
His charges included illegally buying over 1,100 sleeping pills of two types under the name of a different person on 44 occasions from May 2021 to August last year, as well as smoking marijuana in the United States with four people, including Choi. Yoo was found guilty of both charges.
He also faced allegations that he, with Choi, coaxed and intimidated an accomplice, a YouTuber surnamed Yang, to leave Korea and reverse his statement and that he taught another accomplice how to destroy evidence, during which the prosecution alleged Yoo said, "Delete all your mobile phone (records)."
The police and the prosecution had repeatedly applied for an arrest warrant for Yoo, which the court rejected every time.
In a previous court hearing, Yoo expressed deep remorse for his deeds. "Whatever the (ruling) result may be, I will repay those who took care of me by becoming much healthier and more honest and by living my life as someone who can contribute to society," he said.