Police opens case against Lee Sun-kyun over alleged drug use

Actor Lee Sun-kyun [CJ ENM]

A case against actor Lee Sun-kyun has been opened by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency on suspicion of marijuana and psychoactive drug use, the police said Tuesday.

The police had booked the "Parasite" actor for his alleged marijuana use the previous day, but said Tuesday that the actor is also suspected of using psychoactive drugs.

Lee had previously filed a lawsuit against a manager of a night club in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, alleging the manager blackmailed him, the police and Lee's representatives said.

The manager, a woman identified as A, was confirmed to have called Lee 10 times this year, according to the police. In the calls, she threatened to leak Lee's alleged use of drugs.

Lee filed a lawsuit against an individual related to the case who "blackmailed Lee for hundreds of millions of won," Lee's lawyer said Friday.

The nightclub manager was charged for illegal drug use over the weekend, along with another employee of the nightclub in her 20s, who was charged without detention.

The news comes after the police launched an investigation last month after receiving a tip that illegal drugs were being distributed at a nightclub in Gangnam District. The police expanded the scope of the investigation after they brought charges against Lee and the nightclub manager.

Lee will soon be summoned for questioning by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, which is also investigating five others, including a chaebol heir and young actors, in connection to the case.

Lee denied his alleged connection with them, saying "he does not know them at all" through his lawyer.

BY CHOI SEO-IN, LIM JEONG-WON [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]