Granddaughter of Namyang Dairy founder sent to prosecutors for alleged drug use

Hwang Ha-na, the granddaughter of the founder of Namyang Dairy Products, was referred to prosecutors Friday on charges of illegal drug use.

The Gwacheon Police Precinct in Gyeonggi sent Hwang’s case to the Anyang branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office for violating the Narcotics Control Act.

Currently in custody, she was transferred from a holding cell at the Anyang Dongan Police Precinct in the afternoon and is expected to undergo further questioning while detained at the Seoul Detention Center.

Hwang is accused of injecting methamphetamine with two acquaintances in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, in July 2023. She became a suspect in a police investigation but fled to Thailand in December that year. After her passport was invalidated, she reportedly entered Cambodia illegally.

Korean police arrested Hwang on Dec. 24, 2025, aboard a Korean flight at Techo International Airport near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, after she agreed to return voluntarily. Her newborn child and the baby’s father reportedly returned with her.

A court issued a detention warrant for Hwang two days later, citing her prior drug convictions and her attempt to evade investigation by staying abroad for an extended period.

Hwang has denied the allegations. During a warrant hearing, she told the court, “I did not use methamphetamine nor inject it into others,” and added that she had returned to Korea of her own accord to take responsibility for the child she had in Cambodia.

Some entertainment media outlets had speculated that Hwang was involved in drug trafficking and prostitution during her time overseas, but police said no additional charges were confirmed during the investigation.

Hwang has a history of drug offenses. In 2019, she received a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for using methamphetamine three times in 2015. In 2020, she was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison for another drug offense committed during the probation period.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM JI-HYE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]