South Korean actor Yoo Ah In sentenced to one year in jail for drug use

South Korean actor Yoo Ah In was sentenced by a lower court in Seoul to one year in jail on Tuesday on drug charges, becoming the latest celebrity to be caught in the authorities' crackdown on drugs.

Yoo, who starred in the award-winning film "Burning" and Netflix series "Hellbound," was accused of illegally using propofol, a medical anesthetic, on multiple occasions between 2020 and 2022, among other drug charges.

A series of drug-related arrests involving celebrities and heirs of conglomerates, or chaebols, as they are known in South Korea, has prompted authorities to vigorously pursue a crackdown on narcotics and increase customs inspections.

His sentencing comes less than a year after actor Lee Sun Kyun, who starred in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite," was found dead in an apparent suicide after facing police questioning three times over accusations of illegal drug use.

—Reuters