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'I'd be dead': Don Spike says getting caught using drugs ended spiral

Published: 24 Jul. 2025, 15:54 Updated: 24 Jul. 2025, 22:22

Composer Don Spike, who received a suspended sentence in the first trial on charges of drug use, heads to the courtroom for his appellate sentencing hearing at the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul, on June 15, 2023. [YONHAP]

Composer and singer Don Spike spoke publicly on Thursday after serving a two-year prison sentence for drug use, saying drugs destroyed his life and he would likely be "dead if he hadn’t been caught."

“Everything I built vanished,” said the 46-year-old artist, whose real name is Kim Min-su. “If I hadn’t been caught and kept hiding and using, I’d probably be dead.”

Appearing on a JTBC talk show alongside former Gyeonggi Gov. Nam Kyung-pil — now head of the antidrug group Never Give UP — Don Spike spoke candidly about addiction and recovery. The host said the guests were not there to relaunch political or entertainment careers but to raise awareness about drug abuse.

Spike described how curiosity and peer pressure first led him to drugs. “At first, I thought I could control it. But once you start, you cross the line, lose control and ruin your life,” he said. “When I look back at messages I sent, I don’t feel like that was me.”

He was previously convicted for cannabis use in 2010. Asked why he returned to drugs, he said he had quit during a busy stretch in his career but relapsed ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic under pressure from friends.

"It’s been about four months since I got out. I live with my family and continue rehabilitation — including today,” he said.

Don Spike was arrested in September 2022 at a hotel in Seoul’s southern Gangnam District. Prosecutors charged him with purchasing methamphetamine nine times for a total of 45 million won ($33,000), and using it on 14 occasions, five of which involved others.

He was initially sentenced to three years in prison with a five-year suspension, but an appellate court handed down a two-year prison term, later upheld by the Supreme Court.

“I know some people are uncomfortable seeing me again,” he said. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]