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Today we're gonna hit on a heavy subject. KPOP is gaining in popularity worldwide, but amidst it all, several popular Korean celebrities have been involved in drug scandals. In this post, we're going to be talking about these scandals and the dark side of KPOP, as well as Korea's drug culture and laws.
Korea's Drug Laws：Illegal to use even when abroad
When Canada legalized marijuana in 2018, the Korean Embassy in Canada posted a warning on Twitter addressing Korean students and visitors: "Even if South Koreans are in a region where marijuana is legal, it will be illegal for them to consume it. Please take care not to commit an illegal act and be punished.”
Punishments for the production, sale, or transportation of drugs into Korea can be up to double of what it would be for simple drug usage, and is a crime punishable by at least 5 years in prison.
T.O.P, a member of one of Korea's most famous idol groups Big Bang, was punished for using cannabis oil.
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison (2 years probation), with no fines. Many, however, voiced the opinion that this was way too soft of a sentence and suspected that he might have been a subject of "celebrity privilege."
T.O.P
Other famous Korean celebrities who have also been prosecuted for drug use, such as GD, PSY, and Joo Jihoon, were given similar sentences like 6 months incarceration and 1 year probation. Celebrities getting out too easy has increasingly become a social problem.
Drugs in Korea : Methamphetamine
Park Yoochun's arrest for methamphetamine use has been the most recent drug controversy.
The biggest issue of this controversy is that he had repeatedly denied his drug use, but was found guilty after police investigation.
The drug he was using was methamphetamine (or "philopon," as it's called in Korea), which is common drug among Korean drug criminals.
His false public statements were an additional offense for which he was sentenced a total of 10 years of imprisonment and fined 100 million KRW.
Drugs in Korea : LSD
On June 2019, the Korean celebrity gossip magazine Dispatch revealed a Kakao chat screenshot that suggested that B.I from KPOP group iKON had not only smoked cannabis, but had potentially experimented with LSD.
Several messages in the revealed screenshots referred to B.I smoking marijuana in the past: "Do you still do it (marijuana)?"
The most incriminating are the messages from B.I requesting LSD and responses from the unidentified other person such as, "If you try LSD, you have to know that it's a level stronger than marijuana," implying again that B.I is familiar with cannabis use.
B.I quit the group as soon as the article was released. However, he denied his marijuana use until the end, stating, "I've never used marijuana, but I'm very sorry to stir trouble."
YTN
YG Entertainment, B.I's entertainment company, has also gone through some difficult times because of the drug allegations of its affiliated celebrities.
Yang Hyunsuk, the CEO of the company, quit after the sequence of scandals, apologizing for the trouble caused.
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LSD is one of the harder drugs, and any sale made in Korea is a punishable offense of up to 10 years.
This post covered the dark side of KPOP and the various drug scandals that have occurred in the celebrity world.
We'll be back with more Korean culture news.
This blog post is about K-Pop Drug Busts. If you have questions about information not covered in the blog post, please email us at help@creatrip.com
