Gangnam Style star PSY issues apology after police probe into sleeping pill prescriptions: 'It was an oversight'

Global K-pop star PSY, best known for his hit Gangnam Style, has found himself under scrutiny after reports surfaced about his use of prescription sleeping medication.

On August 27, as quoted by Soompi, Seoul’s Seodaemun Police Station confirmed that PSY and a university hospital physician, identified as Professor A, were booked on suspicion of violating South Korea’s Medical Service Act. Investigators allege the singer received prescriptions for psychotropic drugs—Xanax and Stilnox—without the required in-person consultations, and that his manager picked them up on his behalf from 2022 until recently. Police even carried out a search and seizure at the hospital during the probe.

Both Xanax and Stilnox are powerful medications commonly used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders, but they carry a high risk of dependency. Since 2021, South Korean law has banned remote prescribing of such drugs, and patients must collect them personally unless a proxy pickup is formally approved.

The issue, police say, is that while PSY’s manager collected the medication, there was no approved proxy prescription—raising questions about a potential violation of medical regulations.

Responding swiftly to the reports, PSY’s agency P NATION issued a public statement on August 28:

“Hello, this is P NATION. This is our position regarding the issue of singer PSY’s proxy pickup of sleeping medication. Having had a third party collect a prescription-only sleeping medication on his behalf was clearly a mistake and an oversight. We apologise. PSY has been diagnosed with a chronic sleep disorder and has been taking sleeping medication in accordance with his medical team’s prescription. His use of sleeping medication has been under medical supervision and within the prescribed dosage, and there was no proxy prescribing. In the process, there were instances in which a third party picked up the sleeping medication on his behalf, and the police are currently conducting an investigation. We once again apologise for causing concern.”

For now, the investigation is ongoing, but PSY’s camp has emphasized that the prescriptions were medically supervised and within the correct dosage—while admitting the method of collection was a lapse in judgment.