Three Actresses Face Prison Sentences

The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office has asked that actresses Jang Mi Ne, Lee Seung Yeon and Park Si Yeon be sentenced to prison time in the propofol abuse case for which they were first indicted in March.

Jang Mi Ne, who last appeared in "Missing You," faces a sentence of 10 months in prison. Lee Seung Yeon, who appeared in "The Great Seer," faces an eight-month prison sentence, as does Park Si Yeon, the star of "Nice Guy" and former Miss Korea contestant. Park Si Yeon gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in July.

The actresses were charged with abusing the narcotic drug propofol, also called the "milk of amnesia." The controversial drug is used as an anesthetic to induce sleep and can produce a sense of euphoria. It was implicated in the death of superstar Michael Jackson.

Park Si Yeon was said to have used the drug 185 times. Jang Mi Ne was said to use the drug 95 times and Lee Seung Yeon 111 times.

Park Si Yeon said she used the drug because of pain she experienced due to injuries sustained on the set of the films "Marine Boy" and "Dachimawa Lee." The injuries led to a painful bone condition called avascular necrosis that caused her to drop out of participating in the show "Family Outing." Her doctor at first testified that she abused the drug but later recanted his earlier testimony, saying that he only prescribed the drug to treat her condition.

Jang Mi Ne and Lee Seung Yeon said they used the drug because of painful beauty treatments, in which carbon dioxide is injected under facial skin.

At the time of the indictment, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office said, "The doctors indiscriminately injected the drugs without consideration of the risks to earn more cash."

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office it was not using the drug that the actresses were being sentenced for but abusing it and then trying to cover up their use.

 "The actresses showed dependency on the drug as they asked for extra shots of it and hid the fact that they used it."

The actresses may have received harsher sentences because they are celebrities.

"Most importantly, they forget they are public figures," said the prosecution. 

TV host, actress and singer Hyun Young was also accused having up to 42 injections of propofol. Since she only administered a small amount of the drug during a short period of time, she previously only received a fine.