President of 'Kkanbu' Drug Club at 13 Seoul-Area Private Universities Sentenced to 1 Year and 6 Months in Prison

Second Trial Reduces Sentence from 3 Years to 1.5 Years, Supreme Court Upholds Ruling

Yonhap News Agency

The president of a joint club comprised of 13 major private universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, who led the collective distribution and use of illegal drugs within the organization, has been sentenced to one year and six months in prison by the Supreme Court.

According to the legal community on June 20, the second division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Kwon Youngjun) upheld the lower court's ruling on June 5, sentencing Mr. Yeom (32), who was indicted on charges including violation of the Narcotics Control Act, aggravated assault, and illegal filming under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, to one year and six months in prison.

Mr. Yeom was accused of leading the group ‘Kkanbu’, a joint club made up mainly of students from 13 prominent universities in the Seoul metropolitan area, and orchestrating the collective distribution and use of illegal drugs for over a year starting from the end of 2022.

He was also charged with repeatedly assaulting his girlfriend, whom he met through the club, on the grounds that she "socialized with other male members," and threatening to distribute videos of their sexual encounters. Additionally, he was charged with filing a false accusation (perjury) against a cryptocurrency laundering operator who attempted to report the club's drug distribution and use to the authorities.

In the first trial, the court found Mr. Yeom guilty of drug-related charges and sentenced him to three years in prison, ordering the forfeiture of 13,426,000 won, and mandated that he complete 40 hours each of drug addiction rehabilitation and sexual assault treatment programs. He was acquitted of the perjury charge.

In the second trial, the court dismissed the prosecution on the charges of aggravated assault and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, for which he was previously found guilty, and reduced his sentence to one year and six months in prison.

This decision was based on the reasoning that those charges were not directly related to drug crimes and thus could not be investigated by the prosecutor. The prosecutor's appeal against the acquittal on the perjury charge was also dismissed. However, the original judgment was upheld on the remaining charges, including violation of the Narcotics Control Act.

Both the prosecutor and Mr. Yeom appealed the ruling, but the Supreme Court found no error in the lower court's judgment and dismissed the appeals.

Previously, Mr. Yeom was separately sentenced to four years in prison for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (threatening to distribute illicit recordings), unrelated to this case.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.