'Drug Habitual Use' Charge Yoo Ah-in, Appeal Trial Concludes on 24th Next Month

Actor Yoo Ah-in (real name Eom Hong-sik) is attending the first trial sentencing hearing held last September at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu. Photo by Yonhap News

The appellate trial verdict hearing for actor Yoo Ah-in (38, real name Eom Hong-sik), who was sentenced to one year in prison and detained in court in the first trial on charges of habitual drug use, will be held on the 24th of next month.

The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kwon Soon-hyung, Ahn Seung-hoon, Shim Seung-woo) held the third trial session on the 28th for Yoo, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances), and decided as such.

On that day, Yoo Ah-in arrived at the court over an hour late due to heavy snowfall. Yoo, who is in custody, appeared with a shaved head, wearing glasses and prison clothes. The prosecution submitted a request for permission to amend the indictment to the court the day before. Regarding this, they stated, "Based on the testimony of co-conspirator YouTuber Yang, we partially revised the charges against Choi."

Yang left for France in April last year and did not return until last month, when he returned and was indicted in custody on the 22nd. The prosecution said, "The original trial judged that Yang could have left due to personal reasons, but we need to prove this in the appellate trial," and applied to call two police officers as witnesses. However, Yoo Ah-in's side argued, "Yang's testimony is clear enough for the court to make a sufficient judgment," and said there was no need to call witnesses.

The court accepted one police officer as a witness. After questioning the witness at the verdict hearing on the 24th of next month, the trial will be concluded. The verdict hearing will include the prosecution's final opinion and sentencing request, as well as the defendant's final statement. Typically, the sentencing date is set about a month after the verdict hearing, so Yoo's second trial sentencing is expected to be announced as early as the beginning of next year.

Yoo Ah-in is attending the continuation of the first trial on drug use charges held in July at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

Yoo was prosecuted last October on charges of habitual use of medical propofol and other drugs 181 times under the pretense of sedation for cosmetic procedures at hospitals around Seoul from September 2020 to March 2022. He is also charged with illegally obtaining and purchasing over 1,100 doses of two types of sleeping pills under other people's names 44 times from May 2021 to August last year, and with smoking marijuana three times in the U.S. in January this year with acquaintance Choi and others.

The first trial court sentenced Yoo Ah-in to one year in prison and a fine of 2 million won. However, charges of instructing marijuana smoking and evidence tampering were acquitted due to lack of evidence.