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Top court upholds 23-year sentence of Daechi-dong hagwon drug scheme's ringleader

Published: 08 Apr. 2025, 14:34 Updated: 08 Apr. 2025, 21:04

Drinks with illegal drugs handed out to students in the southern Seoul Daechi-dong neighborhood in 2023 [SEOUL GANGNAM POLICE STATION]

The Supreme Court has upheld a 23-year prison sentence for the ringleader of a gang that tricked high school students into drinking methamphetamine-laced beverages and blackmailing their parents that they would report the students to the police for illegal drug use.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the ruling four months after an appeals court upheld the initial court's 23-year sentence last July for a man identified as Lee, 28, who was convicted of violating the Narcotics Control Act and related offenses.

Referred to as the so-called Daechi-dong incident, Lee directed accomplices remotely from China since October 2022, instructing them to manufacture and distribute drug-laced drinks made from methamphetamine mixed with milk.

In April 2023, the drinks were handed out to students near cram schools in Daechi-dong under the pretense of a “focus-enhancing energy drink” tasting event.

Thirteen minors were offered the drink; nine consumed it. The perpetrators then contacted the students’ parents, threatening to report their children to the police for drug use unless they paid money — a tactic combining narcotics crimes with voice phishing fraud.

The case surfaced after some parents reported the extortion attempts to authorities. Public outrage followed, fueled by the fact that minors were targeted and unknowingly drugged as part of a calculated scheme.

A notice is put up in a cram school in Seoul on April 10, 2023, cautioning students not to take drinks from strangers. [NEWS1]

Several co-conspirators were sentenced in September 2023. Gil, 28, who produced the drug-laced drinks, received 18 years in prison. Park, 38, who handled distribution, and Kim, 41, who managed communications for the phishing operation, were each sentenced to 10 years. Lee, 43, who recruited participants for the scheme, received seven years.

The Supreme Court upheld those sentences after appeals courts had imposed harsher penalties than those originally handed down in the first trial.

Lee, the main orchestrator, was tried separately after fleeing to China. He was apprehended in May 2023 at a hideout in Jilin Province and was forcibly extradited in December.

In its July 2023 ruling, the Seoul Central District Court noted the severe nature of the crime, emphasizing that Lee exploited minors as tools for financial gain and caused serious harm. The court imposed a 23-year sentence, calling for strong punishment due to the high level of moral culpability.

The appellate court upheld the ruling in December, and the Supreme Court dismissed Lee’s final appeal, stating that none of the arguments presented constituted valid grounds for review. The sentence is now final.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]