SEOUL - The suicide of Parasite actor Lee Sun-kyun, driven to despair at the peak of his career over a drug scandal, has cast the spotlight on South Korea’s growing drug problem, fuelled by young people becoming more open to taking illegal substances.
Despite President Yoon Suk-yeol ordering a crackdown on drug crimes last April, numbers have continued to surge, with a record-high 22,393 drug offenders arrested from January to October 2023 – a jump of nearly 50 per cent from the same period the year before.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Read the full story and more at $9.90/month
Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month
ST One Digital
$9.90/month
No contract
ST app access on 1 mobile device
Unlock these benefits
All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com
Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device
E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you
