What are controlled substances?
It is a collective term covering narcotics, psychotropic substances, and cannabis, and the ｢Act on the Control of Narcotics｣(마약류 관리에 관한 법률) and its Enforcement Decree set out the definitions and the relevant components.
To prevent harm to public health caused by their misuse or abuse, controlled substances are strictly regulated under the ｢Act on the Control of Narcotics｣ with respect to possession·ownership·use·management·import and export·manufacture·sale and the like.
General characteristics of controlled substances
1. The craving for the drug is compulsive(dependence)
2. The amount used tends to increase(tolerance)
3. Unbearable symptoms appear when use is stopped(withdrawal symptoms)
4. A substance whose harm extends not only to the individual but to society as a whole
Types of narcotics
1. Poppy: Papaver somniferum L.(科) of the poppy family(Papaver somniferum L.), Papaver setigerum DC.(Papaver setigerum DC.) or Papaver bracteatum(Papaver bracteatum)
2. Opium: the coagulated juice(液汁) of the poppy(凝結) and products processed from it. However, products processed into pharmaceuticals are excluded.
3. Coca leaf[leaf]: the leaf of the coca shrub[(灌木): meaning all plants of the genus Erythroxylon(genus)]. However, leaves from which the components ecgonine, cocaine, and ecgonine alkaloids have all been removed are excluded.
4. All alkaloids extracted from poppy, opium, or coca leaf and chemical compounds identical thereto, as prescribed by Presidential Decree
Cocaine, heroin, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, and other 35 kinds
5. In addition to those prescribed in items (a) through (d), chemical compounds that may be abused or cause toxic(害毒) effects in the same manner, as prescribed by Presidential Decree
Fentanyl, metazocine. methadone, pethidine, and other 95 kinds
6. Mixed substances or mixed preparations containing those listed in items 1 through 5. However, this excludes those which, when mixed with other drugs or substances, cannot be re-manufactured or re-prepared into those listed in items (a) through (e), do not thereby cause physical or psychological dependence, and are prescribed by Ordinance of the Prime Minister(製劑), [hereinafter referred to as "quasi-narcotics"(限外麻藥)].
Psychotropic substances
1. Drugs that pose a serious risk of misuse or abuse, are not used for medical purposes, lack safety, and, when misused or abused, cause severe physical or psychological dependence, or substances containing such drugs
Dimethoxybromoamphetamine, bufotenine, diethyltryptamine, and other 98 kinds
2. Drugs that pose a serious risk of misuse or abuse, are used only for very limited medical purposes, and, when misused or abused, cause severe physical or psychological dependence, or substances containing such drugs
Amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylphenidate, ketamine, and other 43 kinds
3. Drugs that pose a relatively lower risk of misuse or abuse than those prescribed in items (a) and (b), are used for medical purposes, and, when misused or abused, cause mild physical dependence or severe psychological dependence, or substances containing such drugs
Allobarbital, barbital, pentazocine, and other 61 kinds
4. Drugs that pose a relatively lower risk of misuse or abuse than those prescribed in item (c), are used for medical purposes, and, when misused or abused, pose a lower risk of causing physical or psychological dependence than those prescribed in item (c), or substances containing such drugs
Alprazolam, zolpidem, propofol, and other 70 kinds
5. Mixed substances or mixed preparations containing those listed in items 1 through 4. However, this excludes those which, when mixed with other drugs or substances, cannot be re-manufactured or re-prepared into those listed in items (a) through (d), do not thereby cause physical or psychological dependence, and are prescribed by Ordinance of the Prime Minister.
Cannabis
1. The cannabis plant and its resin(樹脂)
2. All products manufactured using the cannabis plant or its resin as raw material
3. Chemical compounds identical to those prescribed in items 1 or 2, as prescribed by Presidential Decree
4. Nabilone, tetrahydrocannabinol, and cannabidiol — 3 kinds
5.Mixed substances or mixed preparations containing those prescribed in items (a) through (c)
Side effects of controlled substances
The joy we feel in everyday life is brought about through the secretion of endorphins or dopamine.
An orgasm during sexual intercourse produces the greatest secretion of endorphins or dopamine, but drugs cause the brain to secrete roughly 13 to 100 times that amount of endorphins and dopamine over 72 hours.
This amount is greater than all the endorphins and dopamine a person would release from birth to death.
Drugs excessively activate the reward system, the pleasure center that produces endorphins and dopamine, and in this process the reward system is damaged, making it impossible to feel joy in everyday life.
This causes brain damage, harming the prefrontal cortex that performs control functions, which impairs judgment, and the impaired judgment leads the person back to using drugs again.
In other words, if you use drugs, you become unable to feel joy in everyday life, your daily life falls apart, the brain damage impairs your judgment and leads you back to using drugs, and you become dependent on them. This drives a person into compulsive use, unable to quit even while knowing that drugs are the problem, and as financial problems arise from trying to obtain drugs, harm comes not only to the person but also to those around them.
Sentencing for drug crimes
The sentencing for drug crimes is broadly divided into four categories: personal use such as administration, and simple possession, distribution such as sale, and brokering, import and export, manufacture, and the like, and large-scale offenses.
The sentencing guidelines for drug crimes are as follows.
<Administration, simple possession, etc.>
| Type | Category | Mitigated | Basic | Aggravated |
| 1 | Hallucinogenic substances | ~ 8 months | 6 months ~ 1 year | 8 months ~ 1 year 6 months |
| 2 | Cannabis, psychotropics items (d) and (e), etc. | 6 months ~ 10 months | 8 months ~ 1 year 6 months | 1 year ~ 3 years |
| 3 | Psychotropics items (b) and (c) | 8 months ~ 1 year 6 months | 1 year ~ 2 years 6 months | 2 years ~ 5 years |
| 4 | Narcotics, psychotropics item (a), etc. | 10 months ~ 2 years | 1 year ~ 4 years | 3 years ~ 6 years |
<General sale, brokering, etc.>
| Type | Category | Mitigated | Basic | Aggravated |
| 1 | Hallucinogenic substances, psychotropics item (d), etc. | 6 months ~ 1 year | 10 months ~ 2 years | 1 year 6 months ~ 4 years |
| 2 | Cannabis, psychotropics items (b) and (c), etc. | 8 months ~ 2 years | 1 year ~ 3 years | 2 years 6 months ~ 6 years |
| 3 | Narcotics, psychotropics item (a), etc. | 2 years 6 months ~ 6 years | 5 years ~ 8 years | 7 years ~ 10 years |
| 4 | For-profit purpose or habitual offender | 6 years ~ 9 years | 8 years ~ 12 years | 10 years or more, life imprisonment |
<Sale, delivery, etc. to minors>
| Type | Category | Mitigated | Basic | Aggravated |
| 1 | Hallucinogenic substances | 6 months ~ 1 year | 10 months ~ 2 years | 1 year 6 months ~ 3 years |
| 2 | Cannabis | 1 year ~ 3 years | 2 years ~ 5 years | 4 years ~ 7 years |
| 3 | Narcotics, psychotropics, etc. | 2 years 6 months ~ 6 years | 5 years ~ 9 years | 7 years ~ 12 years |
| 4 | For-profit purpose or habitual offender | 6 years ~ 10 years | 8 years ~ 13 years | 10 years or more, life imprisonment |
<Import and export, manufacture, etc.>
| Type | Category | Mitigated | Basic | Aggravated |
| 1 | Psychotropics item (d), etc. | 8 months ~ 2 years | 1 year ~ 3 years | 2 years ~ 4 years |
| 2 | Cannabis manufacture, psychotropics item (c) | 10 months ~ 2 years | 1 year ~ 3 years 6 months | 2 years ~ 5 years |
| 3 | Narcotics, psychotropics items (a) and (b), cannabis import and export, etc. | 2 years 6 months ~ 6 years | 5 years ~ 8 years | 7 years ~ 10 years |
| 4 | For-profit purpose or habitual offender | 6 years ~ 9 years | 8 years ~ 12 years | 10 years or more, life imprisonment |
<Large-scale offenses>
| Type | Category | Mitigated | Basic | Aggravated |
| 1 | Type 1 | 2 years ~ 4 years | 3 years ~ 6 years | 5 years ~ 9 years |
| 2 | Type 2 | 3 years 6 months ~ 7 years | 6 years ~ 10 years | 8 years ~ 13 years |
| 3 | Type 3 | 6 years ~ 9 years | 8 years ~ 11 years | 10 years ~ 15 years |
| 4 | Type 4 | 8 years ~ 12 years | 10 years ~ 15 years | 13 years or more, life imprisonment |
Amount of drug-crime reward money
If you have helped report, denounce, or apprehend in relation to a controlled-substance crime, you may receive reward money accordingly.
The reward money for a controlled-substance case is paid within the upper limit set on the basis of the sum of the amount of confiscation in lieu and the domestic wholesale price of forfeited goods, or the sum of the anticipated amount of confiscation in lieu and the domestic wholesale price of seized goods(hereinafter referred to as the “case reference value”).
Based on the table above, the amount is determined by considering factors such as the degree of contribution to the case in question.
| Case reference value | Upper limit of reward money | |
| Public official | Private citizen | |
| KRW 1 billion or more | KRW 10 million | KRW 50 million |
| KRW 500 million or more but less than KRW 1 billion | KRW 7 million | KRW 30 million |
| KRW 100 million or more but less than KRW 500 million | KRW 5 million | KRW 20 million |
| KRW 50 million or more but less than KRW 100 million | KRW 3 million | KRW 15 million |
| KRW 30 million or more but less than KRW 50 million | KRW 2 million | KRW 10 million |
| KRW 10 million or more but less than KRW 30 million | KRW 1 million | KRW 7 million |
| KRW 5 million or more but less than KRW 10 million | KRW 700,000 | KRW 5 million |
| KRW 1 million or more but less than KRW 5 million | KRW 500,000 | KRW 3 million |
| KRW 100,000 or more but less than KRW 1 million | KRW 300,000 | KRW 1 million |
Procedure for handling drug-crime reward money
1. Preparing the application
The applicant submits the reward-money payment application to the Chief Prosecutor of the competent District Prosecutors' Office(including the head of a branch office).
2. Receipt
Each year, in the first and second halves, the Chief Prosecutor of the District Prosecutors' Office forwards it to the Minister of Justice through the Prosecutor General.
3. Deliberation
The Reward Money Payment Deliberation Committee deliberates on matters relating to the payment of reward money.
4. Decision
The Minister of Justice decides on the payment of reward money.
The Ministry of Justice forwards the reward-money payment decision to the Chief Prosecutor of the competent District Prosecutors' Office.
5. Notification, payment
The Chief Prosecutor of the competent District Prosecutors' Office pays the reward money to the applicant.
How to seek relief in a drug case
A delivery driver who made a delivery without knowing it was drugs only to find out later that it was drugs, someone who, out of curiosity, tried making a drug after seeing a recipe circulating on the internet, someone who took drugs in a country where drugs are legal — in such cases, where a person could not resist a momentary curiosity or did not take the matter seriously, one can become caught up in a drug case.
In such cases, we hope you will consult a drug crime defense attorney as soon as possible to clear up any unfair accusations.
