Yoo Ah In faces 7th trial for drug charges

On July 24 KST, Actor Yoo Ah In (real name Uhm Hong Sik, age 37) will be facing his 7th trial today on charges of habitual drug use.

The trial will be held at 2 PM at the Seoul Central District Court and follows revelations that Yoo Ah In’s doctor had previously sent him sleeping pill prescriptions via quick service under his family’s name without proper consultation.

Earlier, during the 6th trial, Dr. Hwang admitted that he issued prescriptions for Stilnox, a zolpidem-based sleep inducer, to Yoo Ah In under his father’s name in August 2021. Hwang defended his actions, stating that quick service deliveries were temporarily allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he did not verify if Yoo Ah In’s father was ill.

Despite Yoo Ah In and his father not being infected with COVID-19, the prescriptions were delivered at Yoo Ah In’s request. When questioned by prosecutors about the necessity of quick service for non-life-threatening sleeping pill prescriptions, Hwang could not provide a satisfactory answer.

Additionally, Hwang explained the use of sleep anesthesia for Yoo Ah In’s SGB (stellate ganglion block) procedure, citing the actor’s high sensitivity to pain and fear of neck injections, although such anesthesia is not typically required for the 10-second procedure.

Hwang acknowledged discussing Yoo Ah In’s habitual drug use with a colleague but denied illegally prescribing narcotics. Yoo Ah In is accused of using medical narcotics 181 times between September 2020 and March 2022 under the pretext of cosmetic procedures, with significant amounts of propofol, midazolam, ketamine, and remimazolam administered.

Furthermore, Yoo Ah In allegedly received illegal prescriptions for over 1,100 tablets of Stilnox and Xanax under another person’s name 44 times between May 2021 and August 2023. He is also accused, along with four accomplices, of smoking marijuana in the U.S. and encouraging others to do the same.

During the second trial, Yoo Ah In admitted to some charges of using marijuana and propofol but denied instructing others to smoke marijuana, destroying evidence, and other accusations, claiming certain aspects were exaggerated and that he never urged or handed over marijuana to YouTuber Kim.