The dismissal of indictments has been finalized for a doctor and a member of an elite university drug club who were accused of taking drugs together with other members.

The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yup) finalized the lower court's ruling to dismiss the indictments against a 36-year-old doctor surnamed Lee and a 24-year-old club member surnamed Bae, who were indicted for violating the Narcotics Control Act (concerning psychotropic substances, etc.), today (August 13).

A dismissal of an indictment occurs when a court concludes a lawsuit without reviewing the substance of the case because the prosecution's indictment procedures violated the law.

The Supreme Court ruled that there were no errors in the lower court's judgment that the prosecution's initiation of the investigation exceeded its scope, rendering the indictment procedure invalid.

The joint club named "Kkanbu," formed mainly by students from 13 prestigious universities in the greater Seoul area, was accused of collectively distributing and using drugs for a year starting from late 2022.

Doctor Lee, who worked as a clinical instructor at a tertiary general hospital in Seoul, was accused of purchasing psychotropic drugs from a 33-year-old club president surnamed Yeom and taking them alongside club member Bae between October and November 2023.

Prosecutors found that Doctor Lee also performed surgeries on seven patients on the very day of drug administration.

Bae was also indicted on charges of purchasing and taking drugs from Yeom between February and December 2023.

In December 2024, the first-instance court sentenced doctor Lee to one year in prison suspended for two years, and Bae to two years and six months in prison suspended for three years.

However, the second-instance court issued a ruling in April of this year to dismiss the indictments against them.

Initially, the police transferred drug cases involving other suspects to the prosecutors' office, but these did not include the crimes of Bae or Lee, nor were they identified as suspects or witnesses during the police investigation.

Later, while investigating the transferred case, a prosecutor received a voluntary confession from another accomplice stating that they had taken drugs with Bae.

Based on this clue, the prosecutor investigated and indicted Bae and Lee.

Consequently, the second-instance tribunal determined that no specific and individual connection was recognized between their crimes and the case originally transferred.

The investigation was initiated based on a separate investigative clue—namely, another suspect's voluntary confession—rather than during the course of investigating the transferred case.

Article 4, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Prosecutors' Office Act stipulates that prosecutors may initiate investigations into corruption crimes, etc., and "crimes directly related to the crimes corresponding to those transferred by the police."

In this case, since direct relevance was not recognized, the court judged that the prosecutor's initiation of the investigation was illegal and that the subsequent indictment was likewise illegal and void.

Meanwhile, club president Yeom, who is considered the main ringleader of the case, was separately put on trial, and his sentence of one year and six months in prison was finalized by the Supreme Court in June.

The club members included a large number of students from prestigious universities such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, as well as students preparing to re-enter medical and pharmacy schools.

(Photo: Yonhap News)