'Burning Sun Gate' seven years later... 'PD Notebook' traces rape drugs to sex crimes and narcotics

*This content was translated by AI.

'PD Notebook' reveals the reality of drug-facilitated sex crimes.

At 10:20 p.m. on the 12th, MBC's 'PD Notebook' will air an episode titled 'Drugs and Sex Crimes: Who Erased Ji-hyun's Memories?', which investigates the prevalence of 'rape drugs' that have penetrated not only clubs but also daily life.

Seven years have passed since the Burning Sun Gate rocked South Korea. Drugs used in sex crimes have now penetrated even deeper into our daily lives. On social media, channels specializing in the sale of psychotropic drugs such as GHB (water drugged), ketamine, and zolpidem, so-called 'rape drugs,' operate openly, and even photos of drug use are widely shared.

- Successive 'drug-facilitated sex crime' allegations against a lawyer from Seoul National University Law School

In October last year, during a National Assembly government audit, a sexual misconduct case involving a graduate of Seoul National University Law School, referred to as A, was exposed. The allegation was that A drugged an unknown substance into alcohol and took a female student who had lost consciousness and was in a confused state to a lodging facility. After a difficult search, the victim finally agreed to a media interview. On that day, when her consciousness suddenly cut off despite having consumed less than half of her usual amount of alcohol, what exactly happened there over the course of three hours?

A, who received a three-month suspension from Seoul National University due to the incident, passed the bar exam after graduation and is currently employed at a large tax firm. However, during the investigation, a shocking fact emerged: A was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation for another violation of the Act on the Control of Narcotics. This time, the allegation was that A diluted zolpidem-containing medication into a hangover relief drink and forced it on a woman in her early twenties. The victim refused to accept the deposit paid by A and submitted a petition for severe punishment to the court. 'PD Notebook' exclusively traced the reality of successive 'drug-facilitated sex crimes' by a lawyer from Seoul National University Law School.

- A father's fight – 440 forensic files, so why "no charges"?

Kim Ji-hyun's (pseudonym) father has been fighting a grueling battle for six years to prove his daughter's victimization. Ji-hyun, a proud daughter who studied at a prestigious American university on a national scholarship. However, on her 23rd birthday, after drinking wine offered by her boyfriend, her memories vanished entirely. Even more horrifying were the 440th forensic files found on the boyfriend's phone. In the video, Ji-hyun was in a state of unconsciousness, with her eyes rolled back so only the whites were visible, yet the perpetrator recorded sadistic sexual acts in videos and photos.

The father's pain of having to directly confront the scene of his daughter's sex crime. But reality was even more cruel: there was no evidence to overturn the perpetrator's claim that the act was consensual. The father appealed to law enforcement authorities for video analysis, but was refused on the grounds that sex crime videos cannot be shown to outsiders. Only after appealing to the National Assembly and public opinion was expert analysis conducted two years after the incident occurred.

According to the expert analysis report by the Judicial Administration Office's professional psychological committee, it states: 'It is most likely that she was in a state of drug-induced intoxication. She does not appear to be in a state where normal decision-making is possible. Even without evidence of drug detection, we hope that the investigation and trial will proceed using the video material as evidence.'

However, the Prosecution Service's judgment was different. A decision not to prosecute was made on grounds such as no drugs being detected in Ji-hyun's system and the inability to identify the specific drug. The father's desperate cry, who endured six years by personally studying forensic technology to save his daughter. 'PD Notebook' conducted an in-depth investigation into the full details of the case and serious issues in the investigative process.

- Drugs anyone can obtain – you could become a victim too!

Kyeung University's Department of Police Administration professor Kim Jung-gon (Prof.), who analyzed 41 drug-facilitated sex crime verdicts, presented shocking results. The fact is that sex crimes using drugs occur more than twice as often in relationships with acquaintances than with strangers. This is a strong warning that anyone in ordinary daily life can become a target of psychotropic drug-facilitated sex crimes. While laws and systems stand still and turn a blind eye to crimes, drug-related victimization spreads silently.

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*This content was translated by AI.