SEOUL – South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun on Saturday appeared before the police in connection with allegations of drug use, and submitted hair and urine samples for drug testing.
The 48-year-old tested negative in a rapid drug test that was also taken on Saturday, while submitting his cellphone for evidence.
The National Forensic Service is slated to conduct the test, the result of which is expected about a month later.
Lee won a Screen Actors Guild award for his role in the Academy Award-winning 2019 picture Parasite, in which he played the head of the wealthy Park family.
He did not make specific comments related to the allegations, simply vowing to follow the investigative procedures.
It was initially reported that he refused to answer questions during police questioning, but his legal representative on Sunday denied this. The lawyer said that Lee’s Saturday visit to the police was merely to take the rapid drug test and submit his phone and the samples, and that Lee would fully comply with the investigation.
The police expect to summon Lee again for questioning.
Lee was among the eight individuals taken in by the police on Oct 19, to be questioned for alleged drug use since January.
It was alleged that he and a hostess of a high-end bar in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, used marijuana and other illegal drugs at the bar, and also at the home of the hostess, who is in her 20s.
The police caught wind of Lee’s suspected drug use while investigating a tip-off about illegal drugs circulating in the nightclubs in the affluent Gangnam area.
The actor claimed that the hostess in question had blackmailed him for unspecified reasons, for an amount of 350 million won (S$353,220).
South Korean law bans the use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances – which include methamphetamine, ketamine and propofol – and marijuana. Lee is suspected of using both psychotropic substances and marijuana.
His negative result in the rapid test does not necessarily indicate other tests will produce negative results. Rapid tests are effective in detecting drug use within the past few days.
The scandal forced Lee to drop out of the TV drama No Way Home, which is currently in production. Two movies starring him, which have wrapped up production, postponed their release dates until next year.
In a separate case, K-pop star G-Dragon of BigBang was booked for suspected drug use last week.
He was previously suspected of smoking marijuana in 2011, but the police did not file charges at the time, saying the amount detected in his system was less than what was required to secure a conviction for drug use.
G-Dragon denied the allegation on Friday.
In 2011, he claimed that he smoked marijuana by mistake, saying that a fan gave it to him and he mistakenly thought it was a cigarette. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
