"Drug Offenders Broadcasting Ban," "Drug Investigation Conspiracy Theories"... Drugs Also Heated Up the National Assembly Audit Session

Recently, following actor Lee Seon-gyun, drug allegations against singer G-Dragon (Kwon Ji-yong) have surfaced, making drugs a 'hot issue' even in the National Assembly, where the national audit is underway. The broadcasting regulatory authorities announced plans to ban drug offenders from appearing on broadcasts, and Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon raised his voice in criticism against the opposition's 'conspiracy theory' regarding the drug investigation.

On the 26th, at the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's national audit, Chairman Lee Dong-gwan responded to a lawmaker's question about whether to ban drug offenders from appearing on broadcasts by saying, "Currently, KBS, MBC, and others handle this through their own internal regulations, but we will review whether this can be generalized and implement it."

Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, is responding at the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the 26th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Young-sik, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out that although drug use allegations in the entertainment industry continue to emerge, it is easy for drug-using entertainers to return to broadcasting. He said, "There are arguments that banning drug offenders from appearing on broadcasts infringes on freedom of occupation, but this issue is closely related to the public responsibility of broadcasting," and demanded countermeasures. Chairman Lee replied, "We will do so." Accordingly, attention is focused on whether the broadcasting industry's practice of entertainers disappearing when drug allegations arise and returning after some time will be corrected.

On the other side of the national audit, criticism arose over the opposition's 'conspiracy theory' regarding recent drug allegations against entertainers. At the comprehensive audit of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, when Kim Su-jin of the People Power Party asked whether the claims of Ahn Min-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea were based on facts, Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon criticized, saying, "Drugs do not understand politics. At that level, it seems like a disease."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is talking with an official at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit on the 26th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the same day, Ahn said on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon' program, "In the past, when regimes were at a disadvantage, they often exposed drug issues involving entertainers to so-called 'cover an issue with another issue.'" He added, "The president's approval rating has dropped to the 20% range. In this regime's crisis situation, the fact that entertainers like Lee Seon-gyun and G-Dragon have drug allegations surfaced?could this be a coincidence? Given the timing of this regime's crisis and these entertainers' drug issues, I think this is a planned move."

He prefaced his opinion by saying, "I believe politics is the art of timing. If these are not foolish coincidences, someone might have intentionally planned this. The timing is sufficient to cause such misunderstandings."

Relatedly, Lee Kyung, deputy spokesperson of the Democratic Party, also posted on her social media under the title 'Trying to Cover Up with Entertainer Drug Articles?' saying, "Articles about Kim Seung-hee's secretary's daughter being a school violence perpetrator causing nine weeks of injury, and President Yoon Seok-yeol being held responsible for pardoning and reinstating Kim Tae-woo to run for mayor of Gangseo District, are being covered up by 'drug use allegations against actor Lee Seon-gyun,'" spreading a conspiracy theory.

Deputy spokesperson Lee said, "The noisy period over Yoo Ah-in's drug allegations was last March. What happened then? President Yoon Seok-yeol's March 1st commemorative speech containing remarks comparable to pro-Japanese collaborators, the raising of the Japanese flag at an apartment in Sejong City, the prosecution's conclusion of 'no problem' regarding Kim Gun-hee's Kobana Contents exhibition sponsorship," and raised her voice, saying, "Impeachment is the answer."

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