A doctor accused of providing drugs to actor Lee Sun-kyun is pictured leaving Incheon District Court on Nov. 27. (Yonhap)
A South Korean doctor accused of providing narcotics to actor Lee Sun-kyun, currently under investigation for drug use, has been arrested by police late Wednesday.
Incheon District Court issued an arrest warrant for the 42-year-old suspect, on request of the drug unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, saying that there is a risk that he may flee or destroy evidence.
The unnamed suspect, a plastic surgeon at a hospital in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, is believed to have provided drugs to Lee through a 29-year-old hostess of a high-end bar in Gangnam. Police are investigating allegations that Lee took drugs at the hostess' home.
The doctor also allegedly used drugs himself.
One of the doctor's former patients had testified to the investigators that the suspect had given propofol without prescription, and methamphetamine, to his patients, although police stressed that these allegations have not yet been verified.
Drug crimes in South Korea can be punished by up to five years in prison under the Narcotics Control Act.
Incheon police have been conducting a drug investigation on 10 individuals including Lee and K-pop star G-Dragon, who claimed that he took the drugs without knowing what it was. The drug tests came back negative for both Lee and G-Dragon, and the police officially closed the case on the singer last Thursday.
Police are also investigating claims that Lee made in accusing the aforementioned hostess of blackmailing him.
Lee, 48, has built a reputation for being one of the top actors in South Korea on both silver and small screens. He is best known for his appearance in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon-ho.
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