Lee Sun-kyun, star of Oscar Best Picture winner 'Parasite,' dies: Police

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/parasite-actor-lee-found-dead-amid-drug-allegations-yonhap-2023-12-27/

Lee, 48, who played the head of a wealthy household in the 2019 film, 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 said 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.

Suicide or drug overdose?

Drug use is scandalous in South Korea.

There was a woman who claimed she saw him snort ketamine through a straw.

Lee Sun-kyun found dead after police questioning over drug use

48-year-old actor had claimed innocence, requested lie detector

Prolific Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun was found dead inside a car in Seoul on Wednesday, days after the third round of police questioning on Sunday over suspicions of illegal drug use. He had been claiming innocence and requested a lie detector test.

According to police on Wednesday, the 48-year-old was found unconscious inside a car parked near Waryong Park in northern Jongno-gu, Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m. He was confirmed dead in an apparent suicide at the scene and was not sent to a hospital for treatment, authorities said.

In October, Lee was first summoned for police questioning on suspicions of using marijuana and other illegal drugs at the home of a host working at a high-end bar in Gangnam, southern Seoul. He was alleged to have taken drugs on multiple occasions from early this year.

Lee was summoned for two more rounds of questioning on Nov. 4 and Dec. 24. Throughout the three rounds of police questioning, Lee claimed his innocence, saying that he had been tricked by the host into taking the drugs.

After 19 hours of intense police questioning on Sunday, Lee said through his attorney that a lie detector test should be used to determine who, between Lee and the host, was telling the truth. The woman, who is in her 20s, reportedly insisted that the actor used drugs at her home multiple times.

But Lee had admitted that he and the host met four times and he had inhaled a powder through the nose with a straw, though he thought was a crushed sleeping pill. The woman claimed to have seen Lee snorting the illegal drug Ketamine through a straw.

https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20231227000433