Nam Kyung-pil, Who Reported His Son for Drug Use: "There Is No Way to Quit Except Prison"

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Nam Kyung-pil, former governor of Gyeonggi Province.

Nam Kyung-pil, former governor of Gyeonggi Province, who reported his son’s drug use to the police himself, urged the expansion of drug treatment infrastructure, saying, "The reality in our country right now is that the only way is to go to prison."

On the 18th, Nam appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and said, "Treatment should be done, but it is not possible. There are very few places, and there are only one or two hospitals," adding, "We need infrastructure that can share and solve the pain families go through." Nam’s son is currently serving a 2-year and 6-month prison sentence after being convicted last month on charges of habitual drug use.

Regarding the situation that led him to report his son, Nam explained, "At first, he turned himself in. He turned himself in twice, but he was not detained," and continued, "After being released on probation, he entered a hospital, but there was an outbreak of chickenpox there, so he was discharged, and that’s when he used drugs again." He added, "My eldest son who used drugs and our whole family agreed that if this happens again, we would report it," and said, "The police came and took the child away, and they requested an arrest warrant, but the warrant was dismissed. We did not expect that. We thought he would be detained."

Nam explained that his son used drugs again, saying, "He told me, 'Dad, please report me. That way, I will be detained.' So I reported him myself. When I went to the police and said, 'Please detain him,' he was detained." He confessed, "To save him, the only way is to make him quit, and to make him quit, the only way is to isolate him from society," adding, "I tried sending him to a hospital, but that was not a fundamental method of treatment."

Nam emphasized that discussions on establishing a Drug Control Agency should start quickly. He said, "There is someone around me, just as there are alcoholics, there are drug addicts, and just as there are game addicts, there are drug addicts," and earnestly requested politicians, "Regardless of the general election or political strife, please quickly establish a Drug Control Agency."

Regarding the possibility of returning to politics, he drew a clear line, saying, "I have no intention at all." Nam said, "There has already been one general election and one gubernatorial election since I retired," and added, "I will make money working with young people and startups. All four CEOs in our startup have the intention to use the money earned from drug eradication campaigns."

He emphasized, "It’s not because of my son that I quit politics." Nam said, "Watching the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye and the presidential election process after President Moon Jae-in’s election, I realized that the fight of hatred between factions will continue, and in a situation where those who suffer from clearing deep-rooted evils retaliate like a vicious cycle, I have nothing to do."

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