23.03.2019

KBS News

By Yu Hoyun

Police have a searched a hospital seeking evidence of propofol abuse by Hotel Shilla CEO Yi Bujin. Yi was arrested in Cheomdangdong in Seoul at 2:50am today. An official stated that they were searching to secure medical records and had arrested the head of the drug department, and that forensic work was being undetaken in order to make seizures [of relevant evidence]. The police and public health departments have requested that the hospital submits medical records and drug dispensation card to the hospital, but the hospital has refused, stating “medical records can not be handed over without a court order.”

A nursing assistant who worked at the hospital stated in an interview with Newsweek that Ms Lee had made prolonged usage of propofol over nine months, beginning in January 2016. In contrast, Hotel Shilla released a statement saying that although Ms Lee had attended hospital for surgery and treatment, she did not routinely use propofol.

Police are planning to investigate whether the propofol, designated as an illegal narcotic, has been abused, and whether Ms Lee has used propofol recreationally, as soon as the hospital provides the requested medical data. As soon as the analysis of the confiscated materials is completed, the head of the hospital and its staff will be called and investigated.

Analysis: Korea has some of the world’s toughest narcotics laws – and the Korean public is increasingly holding the members of its jaebeol family conglomerates to higher standards of behaviour. The fact that recreational use of a medical anaesthetic like propofol has become somewhat common amongst elites in Korea both bears out the difficulty of smuggling more typical drugs into Korea, and speaks to the enormous pressure often experienced by people in the public eye there; propofol usage is difficult and dangerous, requiring close medical supervision, and provides the same effects as medical use – unconscousness and waking feeling refreshed.