Can delivering a drug parcel without drugs land you in jail? Korea's top court says yes.
Published: 25 Nov. 2025, 20:11
![The Supreme Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is seen on Sept. 25. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/11/25/99658731-b157-4784-a983-1e40ba75f433.jpg)
The Supreme Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is seen on Sept. 25. [YONHAP]
A cardboard box stuffed with children’s toys set off a legal question that reached Korea’s highest court: Can someone commit a drug crime when the drugs never existed?
A courier-for-hire believed they were helping move narcotics when they arrived in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on a summer evening last year. The courier had responded to a recruitment post on a Telegram channel used by drug dealers to hire runners. A handler instructed the courier to collect a parcel that another runner would leave behind and to take it home.
The box picked up on July 31, 2024, looked unremarkable. But customs officers at Incheon International Airport had already seized the real narcotics hidden inside the toys packed in the parcel. What remained were harmless playthings — and a case that forced courts to consider whether someone can be punished for possessing drugs that are no longer there.
Prosecutors charged the courier under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Prevention of Illegal Trafficking in Narcotics, which permits punishment for possessing drugs or items believed to contain them. They also brought a separate charge for collecting 25 million won ($17,000) worth of ecstasy in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi.
The courier argued that no narcotics existed in the parcel and that a conviction for drug possession made no sense. A district court disagreed and convicted on both counts, sentencing the courier to three years in prison. The court relied on Article 9-2 of the statute, which punishes anyone who “transfers, receives or possesses drugs or other items while recognizing them as narcotics.”
Judges say belief was enough
The lower court found that the courier acted throughout with the belief that the toys concealed drugs.
“The courier collected the parcel while believing that the international mail parcel contained narcotics,” the court said, adding that the courier "likely continued to recognize the connection to drug trafficking while opening the box and dismantling the toys at home.”
An appellate court upheld the verdict. It said the law covers cases where someone intends to commit a drug crime but cannot do so because of a mistake about the object. Since the courier believed the toys hid narcotics, the law applied.
“‘Other items’ should include objects that are not drugs in form but can be perceived as containing narcotics," the ruling added.
![The Supreme Court flag is seen in front of the court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Oct. 20. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/11/25/08a9701c-687f-462a-8429-5e9dfbd1234b.jpg)
The Supreme Court flag is seen in front of the court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul on Oct. 20. [YONHAP]
The case went to the Supreme Court, which rejected the final appeal. Last month, the top court affirmed the conviction and said the statute applies even when the narcotics do not exist.
It was the first ruling in which the Supreme Court addressed a case involving an item believed to contain narcotics when none were present. The court said it was reasonable to treat the conduct as a violation of the statute because the courier acted intending to commit a drug offense.
“It is appropriate to view the conduct as a violation even when a person possesses a box believing narcotics are inside for the purpose of committing a drug offense, although they do not actually exist,” the court said.
The justices noted that the statute defines the object of recognition broadly as “drugs or other items,” without limiting their form or characteristics, and that “any item believed to be containing narcotics falls under the provision."
They also pointed to the covert nature of drug trafficking, where narcotics often move inside parcels or containers.
“Because drug crimes are carried out covertly, narcotics are often distributed inside boxes,” the court said, adding that “there is no difference in the danger of the act or the need for punishment compared to cases where the narcotics themselves are distributed.”
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 CHOI SEO-IN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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