عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

S. Korean Actor Yoo Ah-in Jailed for One Year for Drugs

Yoo Ah-in arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, September 3, 2024. (Yonhap via Reuters)
Yoo Ah-in arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, September 3, 2024. (Yonhap via Reuters)
TT
TT

S. Korean Actor Yoo Ah-in Jailed for One Year for Drugs

Yoo Ah-in arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, September 3, 2024. (Yonhap via Reuters)
Yoo Ah-in arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, September 3, 2024. (Yonhap via Reuters)

High-profile South Korean actor Yoo Ah-in was found guilty Tuesday of illegal use of the anesthetic drug propofol and handed a one-year jail term, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, was accused of using propofol on 181 occasions between 2020 and 2022. The drugs were administered at professional clinics, under the guise of having cosmetic procedures done.

The prosecution had sought a four-year sentence for the "Hellbound" actor, but the Seoul Central District Court handed the 37-year-old a one-year jail term, Yonhap reported.

"He is deemed guilty of all his purchases for habitual drug use," the court stated in its ruling, according to Yonhap News TV.

The court said Yoo had committed the offences "in disregard of relevant regulations" and displayed a "lack of caution against drug substances".

A doctor who administered propofol to Yoo without a proper prescription was fined 40 million won ($30,000) last month.

Propofol, while primarily used as a surgical anesthetic, is sometimes abused recreationally, often with the involvement of medical professionals who may be willing to provide it without a legitimate clinical need.

An overdose of the drug was cited as the cause of pop star Michael Jackson's death in 2009.

"I am sorry for having caused concern to many people," Yoo was quoted as saying in court by Yonhap.

Yoo rose to stardom in the South following his debut in 2003, starring in a range of television dramas and films across genres, and becoming one of the country's most recognizable actors.

This trial marks the latest drug scandal to hit South Korea.

In a similar incident, K-pop star G-Dragon faced allegations of drug use and was questioned by police, but the case was dropped in November due to insufficient evidence.

Actor Lee Sun-kyun, known for his role in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite", took his own life in December after being accused of illegal substance use, sparking public outrage over what many perceived as an excessive investigation by the police without substantial evidence.

Lee Jae-yong, then vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, was convicted in 2021 of illegally using propofol and was fined 70 million won. He was found guilty of repeatedly receiving the anesthetic at a plastic surgery clinic in Seoul on numerous occasions over several years.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
TT
TT

Timothee Chalamet Channels Young Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'

FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Timothee Chalamet attends a premiere of the film "A Complete Unknown" at Dolby theater in Los Angeles, California, US December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Timothee Chalamet likened his journey to playing music legend Bob Dylan to an athletic feat. It turned into a marathon that stretched longer than the actor had expected.
Chalamet signed up to play Dylan in 2019. Then came a global pandemic and labor strikes in Hollywood, forcing two extended delays to filming.
"A Complete Unknown," the movie about Dylan's quick rise to stardom in the early 1960s, will finally be released in theaters on Wednesday, Christmas Day, by Walt Disney's Searchlight Pictures.
The disruptions gave the "Dune" actor more time to work out how to translate the towering figure to the big screen. Chalamet learned to play guitar and harmonica and worked with a vocal coach to evolve from his smooth "Wonka" singing to Dylan's distinctive, nasal voice, Reuters reported.
"It was the most I've ever taken on," Chalamet said in an interview, comparing the preparation to "the climbing of a steep hill."
"A Complete Unknown" chronicles Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 at age 19, his rapid ascent in folk music circles with songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind," and his divisive turn to electric rock music in 1965. The movie's title is taken from a line in the Dylan hit "Like a Rolling Stone."
Chalamet said he immersed himself in whatever video he could find of Dylan in the early '60s, a time of political and social upheaval in the United States.
"There's a finite amount of material available, especially in this period," Chalamet said. "At some point you can turn every page over. Not to say that I have, but if I haven't I've come damn close to it."
In the summer of 2023, Chalamet said, "I felt like I hit a runner's high" in the preparation.
"I felt like my muscles were strong and I was well prepared, and that every day was sort of just chipping away slowly at this bigger thing," he said.
Just as Chalamet was ready, Hollywood actors went on strike, and he worried that funding or casting might fall apart. The final go-ahead to start filming came in March 2024.
DYLAN WEIGHS IN
The real-life Dylan provided input on the script to director James Mangold but never met or spoke with Chalamet, though he recently described the star as "a brilliant actor."
"I'm sure he's going to be completely believable as me. Or a younger me. Or some other me," Dylan wrote on social media platform X.
Chalamet's performance has earned praise from critics and predictions that he could garner his second Oscar nomination. He and co-star Edward Norton were nominated for Golden Globes.
Other co-stars include Elle Fanning, who plays girlfriend Suze Rotolo who appeared on the cover of the album "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" but goes by the name Sylvie Russo in the film.
Monica Barbaro portrays singer Joan Baez, who had already landed on the cover of Time magazine when her career intersected with Dylan's. At the time, Baez was trying to figure out how to use her platform as an activist.
"Bob came in and was kind of a mess of a boy, but also an absolute poet and brilliant lyricist, and was putting words to all of these things that she felt," Barbaro said. "On top of his charisma, I think, she just was sort of magnetized to him."
Norton plays Pete Seeger, a banjo player and prominent singer of protest music who mentored Dylan.
"I think a lot of people have lost sight of who these people actually were and what they did and what they sounded like," Norton said. "If we can get some people tuning in again, that's probably worth the whole enterprise."
Chalamet agreed.
Dylan is "one of these names that is iconic to my generation," the 28-year-old said. "You know the name, but because he's such an elusive figure and a reclusive figure ... a lot of people my age don't know the music."
"This felt like an opportunity to be a bridge in some way and bring life to this amazing period," he added.