Lee was in his twenties when he first experimented with drugs, trying marijuana and cocaine while studying abroad in the U.S. But he says that when he returned to South Korea, he started using “stronger” stuff.

“At first, it was occasional. But once a month became once a week… and then I started using every day. I wanted to quit, but I just couldn’t stop,” said Lee, a pseudonym he uses as a recovering addict in Narcotics Anonymous. “Then one day, I was arrested.”

Lee’s arrest eight years ago makes him one of the tens of thousands of South Koreans charged for drug-related offenses as illegal drug abuse has surged over the last decade, a development that has authorities raising alarms. Earlier this month, President Yoon Suk-yeol declared a “war on drugs,” while prosecutors announced they will set up a nationwide anti-drug task force. 

Last year, the number of drug offenders in South Korea hit 16,153, up from just over 9,000 in 2012, according to statistics from the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice. 

These are still relatively small numbers compared to other developed countries, where drug use has been common for decades or longer. By comparison, U.K. authorities recorded over 210,000 drug offenses in England and Wales in 2020. In the Netherlands, authorities seized over 48,000 pounds (22,000 kg) of cocaine in the first half of 2022, while police in South Korea confiscated less than 1,100 pounds (500 kg) of all illicit drugs in the same period. 

But novel methods of online drug dealing in hyperconnected South Korea have only made it easier for kids and young adults to get high, even though the penalties for drug dealing and possession usually include several years in jail and/or heavy fines. 

Tackling the problem will require Seoul to take a hard look at how other countries’ campaigns against drug abuse in order to avoid the pitfalls of their approaches, drawing on international expertise while also confronting the deep-rooted social problems that are helping to fuel the growing drug crisis.

DRUGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

Central to the wider availability of drugs in South Korea is Telegram, the messaging app of choice for dealers, who prefer the app’s strong encryption and features that allow user anonymity, according to South Korea’s prosecutor’s office and customs agency.

Advertisements for drugs on South Korean social media are easy to find. Korean-language ads for fentanyl and methamphetamine are widely distributed on Twitter. Dealers post pictures of crystal meth — dubbed “ice” (아이스) in Korean — accompanied by a Telegram username. 

Ordering is easy. Users can forward their orders to dealers on Telegram, who will in turn ask their clients to transfer cryptocurrency to their accounts. After the transaction has been completed, dealers will hide the drugs in public places and send the location to their buyers. 

South Korea’s fast internet speeds and ubiquitous smartphone use means it’s particularly easy for teens and young adults to connect with online drug dealers. Lee said his narcotics recovery group is increasingly filled with younger South Koreans. 

“Five years ago, we barely had any young members,” he said. “Now, they are the majority. Drug use among those in their twenties and thirties has rapidly increased.”

Dealers in South Korea advertise their Telegram channels on Korean-language social media | Image: Korea Pro (edited)

This trend is not unique to South Korea and is growing in the U.S., Europe and Oceania, according to Andrew Childs, a researcher at the Griffith University Criminology Institute.

“Smartphone apps have emerged as a way of providing feelings of comfort to both drug buyers and sellers,” Childs told Korea Pro. “Drug supply can be organized quickly and efficiently, and the ability to review photos and videos of products helps buyers feel as though what they’re purchasing is safe while suppliers perform the role of a 24/7 customer service.”

The problem is that the method of selling drugs via Telegram is so effective that it is almost impossible to successfully deter, Child said. 

“The drop-offs [of drugs] show how difficult it is to predict where and when drug exchanges will take place. This obviously complicates traditional ways of policing that might be based on where there are ‘known’ drug marketplaces and hot spots.”

‘DON’T DO DRUGS’ 

South Korea, which for many years prided itself on being a “drug-free” country, appears to have been caught flat-footed by the rise of online drug deals. The Yoon administration has vouched to take a “pan-governmental approach” in his “war on drugs,” but so far has only announced conventional policing measures that don’t appear likely to stop anonymous Telegram conversations about and cryptocurrency transfers for illicit drugs.

Shifting manpower to combat drug use may also draw resources away from areas where the presence of police officers may make more of an immediate impact. Amid the ongoing investigation into the deadly Itaewon crowd surge last weekend, National Police Agency official Oh Seung-jin said in a briefing on Monday that police in the area were looking to bust drug and sex crimes — not necessarily help with crowd control.

There’s also a lack of education. Only around 3% of all elementary, middle and high school students received specialized drug prevention education last year, according to Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Hoon-sik, citing data from the Korea Association Against Drug Abuse (KAADA). 

KAADA’s YouTube channel features a clip of a student sitting on the floor in a dark, concrete room, doing drugs by herself. In another video, a brightly colored mascot pantomimes and sings a jingle with lyrics that encourages views to think about their families and “don’t do drugs.” 

South Korea’s Ministry of Education drug prevention videos are mostly dry, lengthy explainers of all the potential risks that accompany marijuana and other drug use. 

World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on effective drug prevention state that “relying heavily on merely giving information or in particular to elicit fear” has been proven ineffective. Rather, the WHO advises deploying personal development classes that teach coping skills and resistance to temptation. 

Empirical research has also found that the U.S. “war on drugs,” including the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program, has been mostly ineffective.

A quiet road at night in Seoul | Image: Pixabay

The Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (TRIMBOS), a WHO partner and authority on drug prevention, also warns that drug prevention education — if done badly — can even be counterproductive and lead to stigmatization. 

TRIMBOS advocates for a holistic approach involving stress reduction at school, trust-based parenting and epidemiological research into how drugs spread within society. 

The institute also found that stress and anxiety are major determinants of drug addiction. Mental health remains a mostly taboo subject in South Korea. While 1 in 4 South Koreans report depression and other mental health issues and most say they are stressed out, few seek out therapy or other proven treatments. 

South Korea also has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. For Koreans under 40, suicide is the most common cause of death. 

The South Korean government will likely have the most success curbing rising drug use in the country by focusing on the underlying factors that drive many to seek relief from the real world. Classic policing techniques and scaremongering are unlikely to be sufficient on their own. 

Groups like Narcotics Anonymous may also play an important role going forward.

“I did not know how to get clean and because everything I tried failed, I was in fear,” Lee told Korea Pro.

“But now, with the help of the program and people I met at the Narcotics Anonymous meetings, I have been clean for eight years.” 

Edited by Arius Derr