Yoo Ah-in Concludes Second Drug Trial In 30 Minutes, Asserts Drugs Were For Medical Purposes

During his second hearing on January 23, South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, who's facing charges of alleged illicit drug use, asserted that he consumed drugs for medical reasons.

The hearing took place at the Seoul Central District Court, over charges related to drug abuse, inviting someone to smoke marijuana alongside him, and also tampering with evidence. The panel of judges overseeing the trial included Chief Judges Park Jeong-gil, Park Jeong-je, and Ji Gwi-yeon.

While Ah-in refused to say anything about the matter itself, his legal attorney gave a stance on behalf of the actor. "Living the life of a celebrity and being in the public eye, Ah-in has been suffering from depression, panic disorder and sleeping disorders for a long time," his attorney said at the second hearing, adding that the actor "went through various medical procedures, which resulted in a high dependency on sleep-inducing anesthesia. The actor owns up to the fact that he used drugs during the medical procedure and deeply regrets his actions."

The actor, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, has already admitted to marijuana usage but denied ever smoking it with someone else. He has also been guilty of buying prescription-based medication Stilnox, a sleeping pill, under someone else's name. But according to the representative, "such an action does not fall under violating the Narcotics Control Act and should be treated as an exceptional case, as a prescription was given to the pharmacist to receive the prescribed drugs."

He also conveyed the 'Hellbound' actor's deepest apologies for his actions. 

Ah-in’s first hearing was on December 12, and just like last time, he left the courtroom in a span of 30 minutes and did not answer any questions thrown in by different reporters. 

For those unversed, the 'Burning' actor has been accused of administering medical narcotics 181 times between September 2020 and March 2022. These narcotics were purportedly used for sedative anesthesia during cosmetic procedures. The substances in talks include like 9,635.7 mL of propofol, 567 mg of midazolam, 11.5 mL of ketamine, and 200 mg of remimazolam. He is also suspected of obtaining around 1,100 sleeping pills illegally on 44 occasions, using others' names for these prescriptions from May 2021 to August 2022.