On December 17, BoA was summoned by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and questioned over the sleeping drugs allegation into South Korea. Though, SM Entertainment said it was a misunderstanding.
Was BoA smuggling Psychotropic Drugs?
BoA 'Little Bird Muffler' Launch!#보아 #BoA #리틀버드머플러 #LittleBirdMuffler #패딩머플러
— BoA Official (@BoA_Official) December 15, 2020
누구에게나, 어떤 코디에도 잘 어울리는 디자인!
수익금은 보호 종료 아동들을 위해 후원됩니다.
제품 구매처와 더 자세한 내용이 궁금하시다구요?
▼ Click! Click! ▼https://t.co/Jk1nH1th1n pic.twitter.com/Cejz1jvaAv
Kpop soloist BoA was accused of illegally bringing in multiple psychotropic drugs, including Zolpidem. Zolpidem is known as a medication usually used for sleeping problems.
The report said that the drugs were prescribed by a doctor under an employee at BoA’s agency Japan office. BoA’s agency based in Japan said that BoA had used the prescribed drugs on her tours between Japan and the US to overcome jetlags. However, the Korean agency’s employee was unaware of the customs regulation and didn’t know that such drugs cannot enter Korea via mail.
Prosecutors will decide whether this was international wrongdoing after reviewing the case.
SM Entertainment Explanation
Regarding the accusation of BoA’s drugs smuggling, SM Entertainment has responded with an official statement:
“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.”
How BoA’s Fans React?
do ppl not see that the drug BoA got from Kr has side effects on her which is why she needed to get the one she is used to taking from Jp?!? smuggling is such a shitty word to use when all she wants is to get a prescribed drug that she has been legally taking from Jp to Kr 🌚🌚
— Sophie ◡̈ 김선호사랑 (@sophiechanelala) December 17, 2020
y’all rlly tried to cancel boa bc she got caught “smuggling drugs into korea” when y’all didn’t read half of the articles that said that said they were prescribed sleeping pills & the japanese staff didn’t know you had to contact the gvnmt to ship them in korea 😐
— bluehr.¹²⁷ (@astraydream) December 18, 2020
So fcking what if #BoA was smuggling drugs for herself! Legality is not morality. If it helps her cope who are you to judge? Mind your business!
— Dania | Abolish the Police (@is_twice) December 17, 2020
If Boa the literal queen of kpop is being cancelled by Koreans for smuggling a drug to use for sleep then idk anymore
— Ara (@dumbseat) December 18, 2020
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Hopefully this is not true 🙁
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮