Kim Ye-won, Former Green Party Leader, Receives Suspended Sentence for 'Daema Smoking'

Order to Attend Probation and Drug Treatment Lectures

Kim Ye-won, former Green Party leader (34), who was indicted on charges of habitual marijuana smoking and possession, was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

Kim Ye-won, former co-representative of the Green Party.
Photo by Yonhap News

On the 17th, Judge Kang Young-gi of the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 9 sentenced Kim to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year suspension, ordering probation and 80 hours of drug treatment lectures.

The court stated the sentencing rationale, saying, "Due to the nature of drug crimes, detection is difficult, the risk of recidivism is high, and the harm to society at large is significant, making the culpability severe."

Earlier, at the sentencing hearing held on the 20th of last month, the prosecution requested a sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison, stating, "Considering the number and duration of offenses, the crime is quite serious."

Kim was indicted on charges of habitually smoking and possessing marijuana from October 2021 to March of last year at a farm in Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province.