Yoo Ah In Drug Use Scandal Increases in Severity as He Also Tests Positive for Cocaine and Ketamine in His System

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• Should add fentanyl for a complete buffet

• The netizen comments are so infuriating, especially when sexual assault, rape, and crimes against women have such light sentences, while drug use is completely demonized by society with harsh legal sentences. The fact that Seungri, Yoochun, Himchan, and all of these sexual abusers can walk around free (with Yoochun even trying to hold fanmeetings and create a new album!) while people immediately dogpile on actors who are also drug users shows just how little people care about why actors turn to drugs in the first place, and how drug use can affect anyone (regardless of their socioeconomic status).

  Yoo Ah In has clearly been suffering for a very long time; for those who watched his I Live Alone episode, there was definitely a very melancholic, isolated, lonely feeling to his clip (as much as the hosts tried to make his life seem amazing and luxurious). You really never know what others are going through, and he's always been the target of malicious comments and drivel on everything from military enlistment to the projects he picks to his sexuality. Regardless of whatever sentence he gets given the fact that drug use is illegal in Korea, my hope is that he finds the psychological and professional help that he needs (which will be vastly unlikely given the problems with the lack of resources towards rehabilitation for drug addiction).

  • You seem to be making it as is illegal drug abuser should be taken upon more lightly than the rest of the crimes, when the societal impact, crime from drug abuser are far wide and known too. He needs help for sure, but that doesn't mean he is not doing something illegal. And anything illegal should have a legal consequences or punishment.

    • A drug addict hurts himself, he's ill and needs help, not jail time. Unless you have proof that the is selling too, that's the crime with the societal impact. And, to be clear, I never liked this guy, I have hardly watched anything he's been into (I think only Hellbound, and I didn't like it either), so I am not a fan trying to absolve him. Drug addicts are suffering and shouldn't be treated harsher than alcoholics.

    • I agree! There are thousands of people who are fighting from there problems, depression,etc without taking drugs. TAKING DRUGS IS COMPLETELY WRONG. And it should not be justified.

      Offcourse! Drug addicts should not be treated as dangerous criminals because many times drugs are not taken, they are encouraged/given by others.

      But people should understand yoo ah in's case. He is a celebrity and not a struggling actor, one of the most successful actor in Korean industry till now. He has a life where he can make choices consciously. He take drugs and know the consequences.

      I believe, he should not face harsh judgment by court because druggies need help first.

      But I hated when people justify taking DRUGS and say he has done nothing wrong. Seriously!? We r actually living in hell.

  • Thank you. It's so funny that Yoo Ah In has been banned by the big three networks yet freaking rap*st Park Shi Hoo had managed to even get a comeback hit drama (My Golden Life). It's ridiculous, and shows how much korea's patriarchal society cares about women and their abuse. Also shows how little they care about mental health there.

    Just to be clear before people here come for me, Yoo Ah In did technically do something illegal and he has to be held accountable, so don't come for me and call me an apologist. I'm not excusing him. Just saying I agree with @sweetwinters that the difference in the attitude towards different crimes says a lot on what korean society values the most/least, and it's gross

  • No one knows the situation that drove him to using drugs. It could be depression, it could be peer pressure. Who knows.

    But we cannot always use the "you really never know what the others are going through" to excuse his drug addiction. Using such excuse, you are an enabler.

    Whether he has depression, mental health issue. There are professional out there to help. He is overall an adult, knows what is illegal and legal and took the leap to use drugs. He knew the consequence and still took it, being a habitual user. So now he have to face the consequence.

    • How do we know he hasn't tried every possible way to help himself before turning to drugs though? What if suicide was even contemplated? Who really knows? So yeah, we really don't know what he is going through. I wouldn't consider this an excuse, but trying to understand what any person is going through in this type of situation. He will be punished according to the law but he isn't a bad person just because he's an addict.

  • I don't get why you think SA get light sentences compare to drug abuse just because they walk around free now. When the news hit the fan, all those people also cancelled by the internet comments, they don't even count in the mainstream media nowadays, court and other legal procedure get to them and whatever the result is, you can't really say that they got in free.

    The way you defended YAI just sound like that people who enable those SA criminal by saying how they clearly has trouble with women in the past or how the women was not a good person. He looks lonely, manipulated and must have reason to do this, sigh, you just sound like them

  • It doesn't excuse the fact that he's a drug abuser. You can push for more severe sentences for crime against woman, but the comparison is totally irrelevant to this particular case. Also, you got your facts wrong. Do a quick Google search on the punishment for drug consumption in Korea and you can see that it isn't harsh at all. Plus, just because you don't agree with the stance on drug abuse doesn't mean that there is more social stigma associated with it than sex crimes.

  • AGREE.

    He's a decent actor, and living in a highly stressful competitive industry. Despite all the surface 'glam'.

    The more fame you have, the lonelier it can be as well - I am glad he at least has Song Hae-kyo as a buddy. She for one, can empathize with how hard it feels to be judged and under scrutiny all the time.

    Just because he unfortunately had to cope this way, does NOT make him a bad person. I am sure those same Netizens throwing brickbats will suddenly sing a different tune if it's suicide he chose as a way out.

• He obviously have a disease called addiction people. Less judging should be warranted.

  • Less judging but also less coddling. He did something that he knows is illegal in his country. He is an adult and he chose to break the law. He has to answer for that and face the consequences. But at the same time he should be given professional help to overcome his addiction. Maybe his agency can finally do right by him by supporting him through the hard road he'll be facing in recovery.

    • He did more for society than you ever did. And drugs, although not the best decisions, was his way of dealing with society pressure of Korean patriarchy and weird critical fans. Bet you didn't know that he secretly donated a lot of charity and supported female directors. knetz criticize him more for supporting women and well known sex abusers. Cringe.

• If my fave is caught doing drugs or other crimes… it will be a hard drop. No ifs and buts!

  I don’t get those fans who would stay loyal and would back them up with excuses to justify their wrongdoings. Never! I am the type who turn in my family and friends to authority if i know they committed a crime.

  Those fans are most likely enablers in their personal life as well, who will turn a blind eye for those people they like.

  • HA. Easier said then done. You sure you can turn in your kid? We'll see when the time actually comes. We aren't in their shoes, can't be too confident we would or wouldn't do the same.

    • Firstly, he’s no kid. He’s a full adult who choose to use illegal substance.

      Secondly, the whole “we aren’t in their shoes and don’t know how they feel” is frankly bullshit. Yes, we don’t know how he feels, but that justifies absolutely nothing. I don’t need to know how he feels to deem his choices and actions both illegal and punishable.

    • @Butterfly

      Everyone is different, depending on how you were raised will shape your ideas and opinions. Why do you think a jury can't always agree in a murder case or abuse case? Everyone sees the situations differently. You can call bullshit but that's your opinion, I respect that, but my thoughts shouldn't be disregarded either because they are my own. We can argue all day long and still come up with the same conclusion, we are all different.

    • Secondly, I never said he was a kid, I was responding to the first comment here, isn't it true though? How do we know our reactions when we are put in a situation where we have to either turn in someone we know, face the same charges or drugs in front of us because we are in pain? Idk, humans do some crazy things while in tight situations. We question murderers everyday. Its why I say, easier said then done.

• Well technically, Ketamine is now being used in the US for treatment of depression. Not sure if that's allowed in Korea, but one could technically made an argument for medical indications for some of these substance (like cocaine apparently can be used as a local anesthetic during surgery).

• Dang, Coke, he definitely had fun in CA...he should have gone up north to use it legally in Oregon. He can ditch a comeback...Asia will not be accepting. Still, I stand by: dude hasn't killed or put anyone in danger, unwise choices but he's still just doing this to himself, time to clean up before drugs kill you. Do the time. Be thankful this is a wake up call and maybe if you love acting enough, come back.

• Yea, I definitely felt concerned on his propofol abuse but this is way out of the line. Cocaine and Special K is definitely not something that can be justified in any way other than being a drug addict.

  All I can say is I’m glad he’s caught because this can hopefully save his life. He should 100% be jailed because irrelevant on what anyone else feels about how right/wrong the law is, if it’s enforced for everyone else, it should be enforced for him. Or they can change the law. But until that happens, he’s not the exception - don’t care how good or bad an actor he is. But before that, I do hope he is put into rehab and can recover himself.

• He hasn’t wronged anybody but himself. I’m glad this was brought to the light when it did. Any later and he would have certainly died. I hope he gets the help he needs to clean up and get healthy. After he serves his time for breaking the law, he would probably benefit from staying away from the public eye (choose another profession), and seek a quiet, happier, private life where he can be himself without the constant, toxic public scrutiny.

• There’s your diehard fan, Koala. So many armchair psychiatrists among his fans. Not all druggies have mental health problems. I’m more inclined to believe he started for the thrill and moved on to heavier stuff as time progressed. He’s lucky to be caught before he dies from OD.

• Shouldn't many Hollywood celebs be ban in Korea because of their druggie past? Still they can promote their films in the country. Funny, $$$ and standards. Just sayin' if the government really wanted to play fair and be strict...