Actor Lee Sun-Kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite”, was found dead on Wednesday in an apparent suicide, Yonhap news agency has reported. As per the report, the police said that the actor was discovered inside a vehicle at a park in central Seoul.
This occurred when the 48-year-old was being looked into by the police for possible marijuana and other psychotropic substance use.
The actor had faced police questioning three times over accusations of illegal drug use amid a government crackdown, with one session running 19 hours over the weekend. The actor had said he was tricked into taking drugs by a bar hostess trying to blackmail him, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Authorities found Lee in a search triggered by the report that he was missing, a fire official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the matter is a sensitive one. Earlier, citing police, Yonhap reported that Lee was found in a car at a park in Seoul, after his manager told police the actor had left home, leaving an apparent suicide note. Previously it said his wife had reported the incident.
Violations of the severe drug laws in South Korea carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for repeat offenders and dealers or six months in detention.
A dark-comedy thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite” won the Academy Award in 2020 in the four categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film, off six Oscar nominations. The film also won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making it the first South Korean film to achieve the honor. Lee and the cast of “Parasite” earned a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In the film, Lee plays the role of Mr. Park, whose affluent home is infiltrated by members of a lower-class family posing as highly qualified domestic workers in a tangled scheme that leads to a gory end.
Born in 1975, Lee played leading roles in South Korean films such as the 2012 thriller “Helpless” and 2014’s “All About My Wife”. He also played the lead in Apple TV’s first Korean-language original series, which rolled out in 2021.
A six-episode sci-fi thriller, “Dr. Brain” unspooled the tale of a cold-hearted neurologist hunting for clues to a mysterious family accident through brain experiments. Lee’s wife is award-winning actress Jeon Hye-jin, and the couple had two children.