BoA questioned over alleged smuggling of sleeping drug (updated with statement)

[Chuan]

BoA has been quizzed over allegations of smuggling in psychotropic drugs, sources said Thursday.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office called in the 34-year-old singer on Wednesday for questioning over suspicions of trying to bring in drugs, including Zolpidem, a prescription drug that induces sleep, from Japan under the name of an employee at her agency, SM Entertainment.

In a statement, SM Entertainment said the incident was a mistake and that she did not have any intention to bring in the drugs illegally.

"Our employee received the drugs at a local hospital following due procedures but was not aware that it could be a problem in South Korea even though the drugs were prescribed normally abroad," the company said.

According to SM Entertainment, BoA tried to take the pills she previously used in Japan after experiencing side effects from the sleeping pills she recently received on a doctor's advice.

Prosecutors will decide whether to indict the singer after reviewing the case, including its intentionality.

(Source: Yonhap News Agency)

Updated:

The statement is as follows:

Hello. This is SM Entertainment.

We are sharing our agency’s statement regarding the content of the report today related to our artist BoA.

This occurred due to a mistake by an employee at our agency’s overseas branch who had no knowledge about trade or customs clearance operations, and so first off we express our sincere apologies to fans and everyone who had been caused concern over this.

It is true that the employee from the overseas branch shipped the medicine through the mail without following formal customs clearance procedures. However, they were not intending to bring them in illegally; it was a mistake made due to ignorance. We will explain the details.

BoA recently received a physical examination and she was told by the doctor that due to a decrease in growth hormone, she requires sufficient sleep. On the advice of her doctor, she took prescribed sleeping pills. However, she experienced severe side effects such as dizziness and indigestion including vomiting, and this situation was spoken about with the employee.

The employee, who had lived together with BoA during the period of her Japanese promotions, was worried about BoA’s health. They recalled that BoA had not had any side effects in the past when she took medicine that had been prescribed to her in Japan for a sleeping disorder due to difficulties she experienced adjusting to the time difference as she was going back and forth between Japan and the United States while she was entering the American market. As receipt by a proxy is possible in this situation due to COVID-19, they received confirmation from a local hospital and received the medicine by following normal procedures.

The employee received confirmation from a local post office that they could ship medicine from Korea to Japan if they included documents such as ingredients information. However, they sent the medicine to Korea while including the ingredients information unaware that even medicine that had been received as normal by prescription overseas could become a problem in Korea.

As they did not know about practical details or procedures of customs clearance or trade, they were not at all aware that a government agency’s permission must be received for the handling and importation of medicine, and that even those that receive permission must make a declaration and obtain permission before importation. Without being aware of the problem, they made the mistake of sending the medicine after only hearing from the local post office that they could send the medicine overseas if they included ingredient information.

After recently being contacted by an investigative agency, the employee learned of their mistake. They actively cooperated with the investigative agency and were investigated regarding this matter, and they promised to never make the same mistake again.

During the investigation process, they brought up first that the medicine was sent to BoA and sincerely explained with the facts and evidence, and we share that BoA, who was investigated as well, also sincerely took part in the investigation.

Our agency plans to enhance multifaceted education for all our employees, so that this does not happen again. BoA also feels sorry that many people have been inconvenienced due to this issue.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for causing concern.

(Source: Soompi)

Edited December 17, 2020 by Lee

[reiichi]

So basically, another Park Bom situation. A drug that's used pretty much everywhere, but that happens to be illegal in Korea for no good reason.

[blank_stare]

16 minutes ago, reiichi said:

So basically, another Park Bom situation. A drug that's used pretty much everywhere, but that happens to be illegal in Korea for no good reason.

This is just stupid imo. Gonna be another witch hunt. 

[My Everything]

Park bom 2.0

[KentasGlittery EyeMakeup]

Oh no, not this again  please no

[Ash3070]

I'm not sure this will really catch on the way that Bom's scandal blew up. Bom and 2ne1 were big at their height but BoA is a giant in the industry, a literal icon. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm a bad judge and I very good at confusing what will happen for what I HOPE happens, but I really think she'll be okay. I hope.

[tipsy love]

they're doing here dirty

[BaebyTae]

Not again ..... well at least SM and LSM seems to value BoA and will probably support her through this, unlike yg who left Bom on her own 

[trilobite]

we don't need another Bom moment. glad SM is actually supporting her though.

[Your Biggest Fan]

Which politician are they trying to cover up for now? News like this only breaks when something is going on with the government.

[reiichi]

53 minutes ago, BaebyTae said:

Not again ..... well at least SM and LSM seems to value BoA and will probably support her through this, unlike yg who left Bom on her own 

Well BoA is one of the company's directors, so the company is going to stand by her.

This is such a silly situation really. Zolpidem is far from innocuous sure (it's prescription-only for a reason), but I'm not sure why Korea banned it entirely, when it's so widely used elsewhere.

[Onetooth]

2 minutes ago, reiichi said:

Well BoA is one of the company's directors, so the company is going to stand by her.

This is such a silly situation really. Zolpidem is far from innocuous sure (it's prescription-only for a reason), but I'm not sure why Korea banned it entirely, when it's so widely used elsewhere.

i mean, the article does seem to indicate that it was more than just zolpidem. Just that it was the only drug they named. Plus, they tried to do it under another person's name instead of BoA when it was her prescriptions. That's shady when you try to bring in drugs from another country under another person's name.

[Drama Drama Drama]

Sorry I consider unfair how Korea considers illegal the psychiatric drugs in a country with a lot of psychiatric issues in their society.

If people can't take psychiatric drugs and go to terapist gives bad reputation in society what's the solution? 

[reiichi]

1 hour ago, Onetooth said:

i mean, the article does seem to indicate that it was more than just zolpidem. Just that it was the only drug they named. Plus, they tried to do it under another person's name instead of BoA when it was her prescriptions. That's shady when you try to bring in drugs from another country under another person's name.

Er no it's just that Zolpidem is banned in Korea, like a lot of psychoactive drugs that are widely used elsewhere (reminder, Park Bom got in trouble for "smuggling" her ADHD medicine)... The description they give of what BoA used it for (counter jet lag) is pretty spot on, Zolpidem is an hypnotic that makes you fall asleep very quickly even if you were widely awake before taking it.

 

Edit : apparently it's not banned it's just that they didn't follow procedure to import it, which makes the 'scandal' even more ridiculous.

Edited December 17, 2020 by reiichi

[minhoe]

Zoplidem is NOT BANNED in Korea and is prescribed under proper medical supervision. 

1 hour ago, reiichi said:

Er no it's just that Zolpidem is banned in Korea, like a lot of psychoactive drugs that are widely used elsewhere (reminder, Park Bom got in trouble for "smuggling" her ADHD medicine)... The description they give of what BoA used it for (counter jet lag) is pretty spot on, Zolpidem is an hypnotic that makes you fall asleep very quickly even if you were widely awake before taking it.

IT IS NOT BANNED IN KOREA. Stop spreading misinformation. It's available in Korea. However it is ILLEGAL/BANNED to bring prescription drugs into Korea without following the proper procedures. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by minhoe

[sakurahanabira]

3 hours ago, trilobite said:

we don't need another Bom moment. glad SM is actually supporting her though.

she practically built SM up so they're obligated to her