Police on Friday referred the case of Hwang Ha-na, a granddaughter of the founder of a major South Korean dairy company, to the prosecution on charges of using and selling illegal drugs.


Hwang, 31-year-old granddaughter of Namyang Dairy Products’ founder Hong Doo-young, was arrested on suspicion that she sold and used methamphetamine in 2015. She also faces fresh allegations she used illegal drugs last April.

As she was moved from the detention room of the Suwon Nambu Police Station to the custody of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office at around 10 a.m., Hwang apologized for “causing trouble.”

Hwang did not answer questions from reporters about who the celebrity friend she accused of forcing her to use illegal drugs was.

The police said they are investigating the person Hwang mentioned. She reportedly said that a celebrity acquaintance had forced her to take the drugs last year and buy them.

K-pop group JYJ’s Park Yoo-chun is to be called in for questioning next week. Park said at a press conference Wednesday that he had not provided Hwang, his former fiancee, with the illegal drugs.

“When I saw the report that Hwang Ha-na said a celebrity offered her drugs, I was so scared that the person could be mistaken for me,” he said. “I was terrified by the thought that I could be labeled a drug user even though I never did drugs.”

Park and Hwang had planned to get married in September 2017, but postponed the wedding ceremony. In May last year, they publicly announced that they had ended their romantic relationship.

The police continue to look into allegations that the police did not properly investigate Hwang in 2015 due to her family background. The two police officers related to the probe were removed from their posts Thursday and are waiting to be assigned.

In 2015, Hwang was booked on charges of selling and taking illegal drugs. But she was never called in for questioning and avoided being indicted.

Another person, who had been accused of using the illegal substance with Hwang and identified only by the surname Cho, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison suspended for three years, triggering suspicions that Hwang avoided punishment due to her influential family.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)