I feel like the big hammer has come down on K-actor Yoo Ah In after his drug arrest and investigation earlier this year but he hasn’t yet really felt the brunt of his criminal ways. At most he was summoned for long interrogations but an earlier request for detention was not granted by the court. This week Seoul prosecutors submitted another request for arrest and detention with additional evidence unearthed during the last three months including that he coerced witnesses to lie for him and also tried to help accomplice(s) flee the jurisdiction to avoid being arrested. On top of that, authorities claim he spent 500 million won ($377,000 USD) on drugs in the last few years which is an astronomical amount and goodness how did he not die from an accidental overdose.
Wow, didn’t think it could get worse.
If he spent that much money – who were the drug lords making bank off him?
Y’all be so judgey. It’s not like he’s hurting anyone. Addiction is a disease. What he needs is understanding, love of community, and rehabilitation.
I get the Opium Wars under colonization, but Draconian methods today isn’t the answer. Honestly, accomplices could also be friends. In a legal system where drug laws just make zero percent sense, who wouldn’t help a friend flee?
Morality isn’t the law. There are tons of laws that are unjust. Doing illegal stuff doesn’t make someone an instantaneously bad person. Just like always doing legal shit doesn’t make someone morally upright.
I honestly don’t understand how Korea has such harsh laws for drugs when that person isn’t even harming anyone, but will let rapists back to work the fucking next day.
Also, has anyone ever stopped to question why? This poor guy needs help. It was an open secret he was gay in a country where his very being and dignity is constantly being denied. And he’s not some private figure who can deal with that privately…his life is so public. It must be excruciatingly hard. He must have felt suffocated.
All I have is compassion.
Totally agree! My heart breaks seeing how this talented man is suffering. He fell of the edge, no doubt about that and did wrong, but he needs help and compassion. Sexual assault and alcoholism are so deeply rooted in Korean society they are accepted as well as easily forgiven and forgotten. Taking the selfharm a step further should not trigger this vitriol.
So well said! Canceling this brilliant young actor’s career (the boyfriend, too ~ also a talented artist) is criminal in itself. And I’m really pleased that United Artists, in spite of all the horrendous publicity, never once abandoned their client. Typically, SK entertainment agencies are the first to distance themselves at any hint of a scandal. I believe Yoo Ah In will eventually get past this mess while finding a way to naturally combat his anxiety and insomnia issues. Then, I hope a global platform like Netflix will acknowledge his international fan base and get behind him once again. As they say in Korea ‘fighting!’
Haul his a$$ off to jail and all his friends with him. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
It must be nice that you live such a clean life that you can throw rocks at other people. Its a crime in South Korea and I am sure you spared some sympathy for him.
He hasn’t turned to a life of crime or had a driving accident has he?
And frankly the medical practitioners are the ones who needs to lose their practising licences. And more importantly no one in his life got in or persuaded him to seek help? I actually feel so sorry for him because more than any prison time- what would his coping mechanisms for his life be? Since the drugs seemed to be his way of coping.
* snort* don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
You must really live insulated from knowing people who use recreational drugs. Drug use is more prevalent in society than you think.
I think he spent that amount because he probably needed to pay premium for his stash. He is famous and he probably had buy off people’s silence, specially his suppliers. It is unfortunate for him he lives in a country where drug use is treated as a crime, instead of a disease.
He should be reprimanded not for others sake, but more for his own sake. At this point he is a hazard to himself with his drug addiction. I hope he gets arrested and send for rehab or something, before anything serious happens to him. It’s sad he doesn’t have any friends or relatives who could help him out of his addiction.
One friend paid for YAI’s propofol supply in his name, same friend tampered with evidence and paid for another accomplice to flee abroad except he got arrested at the airport. Another friend allegedly supplied him with cocaine. The recent investigation of his close friends is one reason the prosecutors are applying for an arrest warrant again. A lot of his friends have a similar lifestyle. He needs to go to rehab and get rid of his circle of enablers.
Sorry, he didn’t only harm himself . If he has a family, friends, …he did harm them emotionally hard. Think of his family or close friends …they must be devasted . Yes he needs rehab but it’s hard for the entourage .
I’m always confused by Koreans’ attitude toward drug use and addiction given their ways with alcohol. They’re by far the heaviest drinkers in the world and celebrate that. What’s the difference? Addiction is a disease.
From 2023 article:
In 2021, around 72.4 percent of surveyed South Korean aged 19 and above stated that they were drinking alcohol. The highest drinking rate was among respondents aged between 19 and 29 years old, with around 87.7 percent.
From a 2014 article
South Koreans drink 13.7 shots of liquor per week on average, which is the most in the world. And of 44 other countries analyzed by Euromonitor, none comes anywhere close. The Russians, the second biggest in Euromonitor’s sample, down 6.3 shots per week
I have posted this before but I suspected he was an addict after he appeared on “I Live Alone”. It was clear he was on something. His behaviour was so erratic. He was even “nodding out” at some points which is a side effect of heavy drug use. He was clearly high as a kite in some scenes and coming down in others.
Anyway I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Instead of holding his hands up and admitting his crimes, apologizing and trying to plead for a rehab treatment based punishment, he has just made excuses, lied and committed all kinds of further crimes to try and wriggle his way out of being punished for his crimes. May he be punished to the full extent of the law as he deserves.
Not at the commenters enabling drug addiction and becoming drug addict apologists. 🙄
How is drug addiction only hurting the individual in question? Do you say that to the families who have an alcoholic partner/parent? Alcohol is an addiction that needs treatment, but the family and friends deserve sympathy as well. How is drug addition any different when it comes to heartache it causes to the addict’s family and friends? Of course, he should not be cast out, he needs help as well as serving his sentence. But don’t say that he was only hurting himself. Even now, his family goes through these hard times with him. They are not uneffected by his actions.
Yoo Ah In should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Also, he is so famous maybe make an example of him and add on a few more years for being a bad influence. He tested positive for cocaine a class A drug he definitely shouldnt receive any special treatment because he is rich and famous. I also agree that all of his suppliers should be caught and punished and I hope Yoo Ah In is helping the police to catch those people and not helping them to evade the authorities.
For the people who think drug use only hurts the drug user and dont understand the wider harm to society of money made by selling/buying drugs below is a very short extract from the UK national crime agency.
Organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking are typically also involved in a range of criminal activity, and the profits from illegal drugs are used to fund other forms of criminal operations, including buying illegal firearms and financing terrorism.
Crime associated with drug trafficking is very often violent, with direct links to the criminal use of firearms and gang feud knife attacks, and traffickers frequently exploit young and vulnerable people. Cannabis gangs in particular are notorious for the trafficking and exploitation of Vietnamese children and other vulnerable people to carry out live-in work in dangerous cannabis factories.