5 Korean celebrity drug scandals: from BtoB’s Jung Il-hoon to BigBang’s G-Dragon and T.O.P – K-pop and K-drama stars caught with marijuana, MDMA and ketamine
- BtoB’s Jung Il-hoon has just been sentenced to two years in jail, while BigBang’s members were caught up in marijuana scandals in 2011 and 2017
- Gangnam Style star Psy and actor Ju Ji-hoon, of Netflix’s Kingdom fame, have been banned from the KBS and EBS TV networks following drugs offences
When that celeb is a K-pop idol, the impact is greatest of all – and that fate has just befallen former BtoB member Jung Il-hoon. He was still an active member of the group when he was caught using marijuana last year, and was on Thursday (June 10) sentenced to two years in prison and fined 133 million won (US$120,000).
While the internet is buzzing with the news, it’s worth remembering that this is not the first time there’s been a drug-related scandal in the Korean music scene. Here’s the full story, and four more times that marijuana made headlines in Korean celebrity news.
Jung Il-hoon from BtoB
Jung Il-hoon, the main rapper of K-pop boy band BtoB, was charged with consuming marijuana in July 2020, as first disclosed to the public by Channel A in December that year. According to Korean media reports, Seoul Central District Court heard that Jung worked with seven other people to purchase marijuana over a 30-month span. His sentence refers to a total of 161 marijuana offences in that same time frame.