Lee Sun Kyun: Lee, who was being investigated on drug charges, was found dead in a car in an apparent suicide, South Korean police said.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun from the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” has died in an apparent suicide, South Korean police told NBC News on Wednesday.
Lee Sun Kyun, Lee had been under investigation on allegations of using marijuana and other illegal drugs. He said he was innocent.
Police said Lee was found dead in a car at a park in central Seoul, and that there was a charcoal briquette in the passenger seat.
Investigators at the scene in Seoul, South Korea, where Lee was found dead Wednesday.
Parasite Film Actor Dies: Actor Lee Sun Kyun Winner Of Oscar Award Dies
Lee Sun Kyun, Police started looking for the actor after his manager told them Lee had left home after writing what appeared to be a suicide note.
Lee, who was born in Seoul in 1975, played the father of a wealthy family in the dark comedy “Parasite,” which won four Academy Awards in 2020, including best picture. The film also won for best cast in a motion picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Lee Sun-kyun and Jo Yeo-jeong in a scene from “Parasite.”
Lee Sun Kyun, Lee, center, and director Bong Joon-ho, right, with the cast members of “Parasite” at the Academy Awards in 2020.
His long list of credits in South Korea includes the 2012 films “Helpless” and “All About My Wife.”
Lee Sun Kyun, An ongoing crackdown on narcotics in South Korea, which has stringent drug laws, has led to cases against a number of celebrities and other high-profile figures.
Lee was last questioned by police Saturday.
Lee Sun Kyun, “I am sincerely so sorry to have let you down even by being implicated in such an unethical issue,” he said in a nationwide broadcast in October when he was questioned for the first time.
“I am sorry to my family who are suffering and enduring so much,” he added.
Lee Sun Kyun, Social media users in South Korea mourned Lee’s death and criticized media coverage of the case, describing Lee as a “brilliant actor.”
Lee Sun Kyun, “Even if Lee had committed wrongdoings, it still was wrong to push him so hard to the corner,” one comment on Instagram read.
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