The Suwon District Court on Saturday denied a police request for a warrant to further detain the son of former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil, who has been accused of methamphetamine use.
The court declared there was not enough evidence to constitute a need to detain the 32-year-old Nam, who is suspected of illegally taking drugs at his apartment in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday.
Nam was apprehended by local police after his family called police and told them he "seems to be on drugs" as he showed "abnormal behavior." A drug test found traces of methamphetamine in his body, and officials who arrived at the scene found several syringes that appeared to have been used for injection.
It has been reported that at the time the suspect had been intoxicated to the extent that he could was unable to converse.
He remained mum on questions asked by local reporters on his way to the court on Saturday.
Law enforcement authorities are required to secure a warrant to further detain a suspect, 48 hours after the suspect's initial arrest.
Nam, the oldest son of the former governor of Gyeonggi Province, is a repeat offender who received a suspended prison term for illegal drug use in 2018. He also received a suspended prison term from the South Korean Court Martial in 2014 for abusing his subordinates while serving his mandatory military duty.
