"20,000 won recovered"...Hwang Ha-na released, drug charges 'acquitted in first trial'; only escape resulted in fine [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Hwang Ha-na (38), who was arrested and brought to trial on charges including administering drugs to acquaintances and fleeing abroad, was sentenced to a fine in the first trial and released. She is known as the granddaughter of the founder of Nam Yang Dairy and the former fiancée of singer and actor Park Yoo-chun.

According to NEWS1 on the 9th, Judge Park Jun-seop of the Criminal Division 3 at Anyang Branch of Suwon District Court sentenced Hwang Ha-na, who was prosecuted on charges including violation of the Act on Control of Narcotics, etc., to a fine of 40 million won and ordered the recovery of 20,000 won. As a result, Hwang Ha-na, who had been in custody, was released.

The court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that the prosecution's evidence alone proves beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant directly administered drugs or caused others to do so," and ruled her not guilty of drug administration charges.

Furthermore, the court noted, "Testimonies from acquaintances present at the scene during the incident contradict each other and do not align with the defendant's statements," adding, "There is also a lack of clear evidence in objective testing results to substantiate the allegations."

However, the court found her guilty of certain escape-related charges, such as leaving the country immediately after becoming a suspect, and sentenced her to a fine of 40 million won.

Previously, the Prosecution Service had sought a five-year prison sentence for Hwang Ha-na.

Hwang Ha-na was initially prosecuted in July 2023 for allegedly encouraging two acquaintances, Mr. A and Ms. B, to use methamphetamine at an apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and personally administering the drug using a syringe.

When police began searching one of her two accomplices in December of the same year, Hwang Ha-na fled to Thailand. Despite knowing that her passport had been invalidated and she was subject to an international arrest warrant, she did not return to Korea but instead entered Cambodia illegally and remained there.

Later, at the end of last year, she expressed her intention to voluntarily surrender, prompting police to travel to Cambodia and arrest her on board a national flight at Phnom Penh International Airport.

Prior to this case, Hwang Ha-na was prosecuted in May–September 2015 for allegedly using methamphetamine with her former fiancé, Park Yoo-chun, at their residence in Seoul.

In 2019, she was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation period but was later prosecuted again for drug use and received an additional sentence of one year and eight months in prison.

Meanwhile, during last year's pre-trial detention hearing, Hwang Ha-na drew public attention by pleading, "I voluntarily returned to Korea because I want to take responsibility for the child I recently gave birth to in Cambodia."

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*This content was translated by AI.