Dairy scion Hwang faces drug charges

Hwang Ha-na, who was arrested mid-flight on Wednesday after evading a drug abuse investigation for over two years, appeared in court Friday for a hearing on an arrest warrant.

Wearing a thick gray padded jacket, Hwang, the 37-year-old scion of the founding family of South Korea's leading dairy producer Namyang Dairy Products, kept her face largely hidden beneath a hood and a face mask as she entered the courthouse in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province.

Hwang is suspected of violating the Narcotics Control Act, including allegedly administering methamphetamine to two people using a syringe at a location in Seoul in July 2023. While under police investigation, she left the country in December that year and went into hiding.

With the assistance of Interpol, South Korean police tracked her to Cambodia and invalidated her passport. She was eventually located and taken into custody aboard a flight to South Korea.

Hwang previously drew public attention as a former partner of singer and actor Park Yoo-chun.