YouTuber Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Tattooing "Drug King Telegram" Ad on Forehead

Promoted Telegram Account on Request from Drug Seller

Court: "Used Influence to Share Illegal Information, Serious Crime"

A YouTuber in his 20s who tattooed a drug selling Telegram account address on his forehead and promoted it during an online broadcast has been sentenced to prison.

Seoul Southern District Court. Photo by Jiye Lee

On September 2, Judge Seo Youngwoo of the Criminal Division 12 of Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Mr. Kim (29), who was indicted and detained on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, to two years in prison. The court also ordered him to forfeit 11.27 million won.

Mr. Kim was put on trial for tattooing the phrase “Drug King Telegram Inquiry” along with the Telegram account address for drug sales on his forehead in January, and then exposing it during an online broadcast to advertise the account.

It was found that Mr. Kim received money from the operator of the Telegram drug selling account and, in return, tattooed and promoted the account address on his forehead.

It was also recognized as proven that Mr. Kim, in collusion with another Mr. Kim, received and used methamphetamine (Philopon), and posted information related to narcotics online. Judge Seo stated, “The defendant, as an online broadcaster with around 12,000 subscribers, used his influence to post illegal information related to gambling sites and narcotics. The scale of the impact makes the crime particularly serious.”

The judge further explained, “The means used for the crime were also highly unusual,” adding, “The sentencing took into account the impact and lasting effects of the crime.” The fact that Mr. Kim had a prior conviction for taking narcotics was also considered an aggravating factor in the sentencing.

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