The 'Parasite' actors' death in December was reported as a suicide following a tabloid scandal over a police drug probe.
ADVERTISEMENTBong Joon-ho, the Academy Award-winning director of Parasite has called for an official investigation into the cause of death of actor Lee Sun-kyun.
Lee, 48, was found dead in his car on 27 December 2023 in Seoul. The actor’s death has been widely regarded as a suicide following a police investigation into his drug use.
Lee was most famous for starring in Bong’s 2019 film Parasite. The director yesterday led a group of writers, performers and artists in a nationally televised conference where they questioned why police repeatedly summoned Lee in the presence of TV cameras and whether they had inappropriately leaked information about the investigation to the media. They also questioned whether media outlets had overly sensationalised reports about Lee’s private life that were unrelated to the drug investigation.
“We urge relevant officials to fully investigate whether there were any problems with the security of (the information) in the police investigation,” they said in a statement.
They said Lee had suffered “severe character assassination” before his death, and called for revisions of laws to protect human rights in criminal investigations.
At the time of his death, Lee had been the subject of a tabloid scandal around a police drug probe into an allegation the actor had used illegal drugs at the residence of a bar hostess. Lee filed a suit against two people including the hostess, alleging they blackmailed him.
Drug laws in South Korea are particularly tough, and drug crimes are typically punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
South Korea also has long had the highest suicide rate among developed countries. It has experienced a string of celebrity suicides involving K-pop stars, prominent politicians and business executives. Many of the celebrity suicides have been blamed on malicious and abusive online comments and severe cyberbullying.
Police and emergency officers initially found Lee in what they believed was an unconscious state in the car parked on a street in northern Seoul. Emergency officers later confirmed he was dead, according to Seoul’s Seongbuk police station.
