South Korean Actor Yoo Ah-in Receives Suspended Sentence for Drug Charges

South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, born in 1986 as Uhm Hong-sik, has been handed a final sentence by the Supreme Court for habitual drug use. The court confirmed a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

On the morning of the 3rd, the Supreme Court's first division, led by Justice Ma Yong-ju, delivered the verdict in Yoo Ah-in's appeal case. He was charged with violating the Narcotics Control Act, including the illegal use of psychotropic substances and marijuana smoking.

Yoo Ah-in faced accusations of administering medical propofol under the guise of cosmetic procedures 181 times between September 2020 and March 2022. Additionally, he was charged with illegally obtaining and purchasing over 1,100 sleeping pills under another person's name from May 2021 to August 2023. Furthermore, he was accused of smoking marijuana in the United States with an individual named Choi and encouraging others to do the same in January of last year.

In September of last year, Yoo Ah-in was sentenced to one year in prison and was taken into custody during the first trial. However, in February of this year, the sentence was reduced to a one-year prison term with a two-year suspension during the second trial, leading to his release. The prosecution appealed this decision, leading to the Supreme Court's final ruling.

Reported by Lee So-jung, TenAsia forusojung@tenasia.co.kr