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Granddaughter of Namyang founder arrested for alleged drug offenses after year on the run

Published: 24 Dec. 2025, 14:08

Hwang Ha-na, the granddaughter of the founder of Namyang Dairy Products, leaves the Suwon Detention Center in Paldal District, Suwon, on July 19, 2019. [YONHAP]

Korean police arrested Hwang Ha-na, the granddaughter of the founder of Namyang Dairy Products, after she returned from overseas after more than a year on the run over alleged drug offenses.

Police said Wednesday that they detained Hwang on suspicion of violating the Narcotics Control Act and are questioning her at the Gwacheon Police Precinct in Gyeonggi.

Hwang is accused of administering methamphetamine to two acquaintances in southern Seoul’s Gangnam District in July 2023. Police said further investigation is required.

Hwang left Korea in December 2023 while under police investigation and traveled to Thailand, according to authorities. In May last year, police requested an Interpol blue notice to locate her whereabouts and invalidated her passport.

Police believe Hwang later entered Cambodia illegally through unknown means and lived there for several months.

"Cambodian immigration authorities had no record of Hwang’s entry into the country, so we believe she entered illegally," a police spokesperson said.

Her whereabouts periodically surfaced in entertainment media reports, drawing wider public attention in October after reports said she was living a lavish lifestyle in Cambodia.

Police moved to arrest her after Hwang’s lawyer recently informed authorities that she intended to appear for questioning.

Authorities traveled to Cambodia, coordinated with a Korean consular representative and took custody of Hwang before executing an arrest warrant aboard a Korean aircraft at Phnom Penh International Airport, police said.

Hwang arrived in Korea at 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday via Incheon International Airport and is currently being questioned, police added.

Hwang Ha-na is spotted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, as seen in this report from Korean media outlet Ilyo Sisa on June 16. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Hwang is the granddaughter of the late Hong Doo-young, the founder of Namyang Dairy Products. The founding family lost ownership of the company after losing a management dispute to Hahn & Company in 2024.

Hwang previously drew public attention as the former partner of singer and actor Park Yoo-chun, who was given a suspended sentence on charges of using meth together with Hwang in 2019.

Hwang was sentenced in 2019 to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for using meth three times between May and September 2015 at her home in Seoul and elsewhere. The following year, a court sentenced her to one year and eight months in prison for using drugs again while on probation.

Hwang was also booked last year on suspicion of drug use during a separate investigation linked to the late actor Lee Sun-kyun, based on alleged drug use in 2023.

"Her arrest has no connection to the Lee Sun-kyun case, and Hwang was cleared of suspicion in that investigation," the official said.

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 HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]