Lee Sun-Kyun, a South Korean actor who starred in the Oscar winning film,“Parasite,” has died on Wednesday morning, according to the Associated Press. He was only 48.
Lee was found unconscious in a parked car in Seoul on March 27, when he was found, there was a charcoal briquette in the car. Lee’s wife had reported to the police that Lee had left behind what appeared to be a suicide note.
Lee was under investigation on suspicion of using illegal drugs.
Lee was interrogated by the police three times, and the investigation over the previous weekend lasted 19 hours. According to Yonhap News, Lee stated that he was tricked into using illegal drugs by a woman who worked at an entertainment facility and was subsequently threatened.
In 2020, “Parasite” garnered four Academy Awards, including best picture, director for Bong Joon Ho, original screenplay and international feature film for South Korea. It also won the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was the first South Korean film to achieve that honor. The “Parasite” also took a Screen Actors Guild award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, including Lee.
After rising to fame in “Parasite,” Lee starred in the Apple TV+ series “Dr. Brain,” its first South Korean series, and was nominated for best actor at the 2022 International Emmy Awards.
(Additional Contents) After this incident, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has joined a group of artists calling for a government investigation around the death of actor Lee Sun-kyun, who died in an apparent suicide in December. He and a group of prominent artists who participated in a press conference under the aegis of the Association of Solidarity of Cultural Artists (ASCA). The group has been newly formed to call attention to the growing problem of drug-induced suicides in South Korea, especially in the entertainment industry. Other participants in Friday’s press conference included the actors Choi Deok-moon and Kim Eui-sung, and representatives from the Busan international film festival and the Directors Guild of Korea.