K-pop star G-Dragon denies allegations of drug use

SOUTH KOREA – K-pop star G-Dragon on Friday flatly denied rumours that he had used illegal drugs.

“First of all, I have not taken any drugs,” the former member of K-pop group BigBang said in a statement released by his attorney to South Korean media outlets, refuting the accusation point-blank.

“I am also unrelated to the drug use act violation case that was being reported in the news recently,” he reiterated.

“However, as many people are worried, I will fully cooperate and do the best I can in the police investigation.”

The 35-year-old rapper and singer-songwriter, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong, was reportedly booked without detention on Wednesday by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act.

According to the reports, G-Dragon’s name came up amid a police bust into an illegal drug distribution ring in Seoul’s Gangnam area.

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, who starred in the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019) and the recent mystery thriller Sleep (2023),

was also indicted for a drug offence

in relation to the ring.

However, police denied that G-Dragon and Lee, 48, were directly involved with each other, and said they were investigating the two cases separately.

Local media have reported that a doctor, who allegedly supplied the unspecified illicit substances without charge to Kwon and Lee, has also been booked without detention.

G-Dragon was embroiled in another drug use case in 2011. He was suspected of smoking marijuana, but the prosecutors closed the case with a suspension of indictment.

Earlier in 2023, he had officially stated he was preparing to make a comeback under BigBang’s agency YG Entertainment, but the plan seems to have been indefinitely postponed for undisclosed reasons.

YG Entertainment on Wednesday declined to comment on G-Dragon’s police indictment, as he is no longer contracted to the company. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK