A Seoul court on Thursday once again denied an arrest warrant for actor Yoo Ah-in on charges of habitual illegal drug use.
The prosecution had requested a warrant to detain the 37-year-old actor on charges of receiving injections of propofol or other medical-purpose drugs on about 200 occasions at clinics across Seoul since 2020.
The Seoul Central District Court refused to issue the warrant, citing insufficient necessity and justification to detain the suspect.
Yoo, whose legal name is Uhm Hong-sik, allegedly used illegal drugs under the pretext of undergoing cosmetic procedures. The total value of the injections he received is about 500 million won (US$377,500), according to prosecutors.
He is also suspected of using other people's names to illegally purchase some 1,000 sleeping pills and consuming cocaine, marijuana and other drugs together with four others while staying in the United States in January.
It marks the second time an arrest warrant has been rejected for Yoo since the court denied the first warrant request in May.
On Monday, prosecutors filed the warrant for Yoo's arrest adding charges of attempting to have evidence destroyed and coercing people to smoke marijuana.
Earlier Thursday, the actor apologized while attending his detention hearing.
"I apologize again for troubling you," Yoo said before entering the court. "I will respond diligently before the court today and plainly answer everything I can."
Source: Yonhap News Agency