Unfortunately, it appears that Bong Joon Ho, who starred 48-year-old South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun in the Apple TV+ series “Dr. Brain” and the Oscar-winning film “Parasite,” took his own life.
Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, reports that Lee’s body was found in a car on Wednesday morning in a Seoul park. After discovering what appeared to be a suicide note, his wife reported him missing to the police.
The local media reported that Lee was being investigated for allegedly using illegal narcotics. Actors, singers, and other prominent people in South Korea have all been accused of crimes in response to the government’s recent crackdown on drugs. Notably, G-Dragon, the K-pop sensation, was the subject of an investigation.
According to Yonhap’s story, Lee was questioned by the police on several occasions and was questioned for 19 hours throughout the weekend about his use of marijuana and other psychotropic drugs. This year, Lee allegedly went to Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood multiple times, using narcotics after being tricked by a barman who tried to blackmail him.
Due to the heavy penalties imposed by South Korea’s strict drug laws, repeat offenders and traffickers face sentences ranging from six months to 14 years in jail.
With the ensemble cast of Bong’s critically praised dark comedy thriller “Parasite,” Lee won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his depiction of Park Dong-ik, garnering him attention on a global scale.
Lee, who was born in 1975 in Seoul, became well-known after he made his breakthrough in the television series “Coffee Prince” (2007) and the medical drama “White Tower” (2007). Notable projects he worked on with writer Seo Sook-hyang included “Drama City,” the critically acclaimed romantic comedy “Pasta” (2010) about a workplace romance, and the period drama “Miss Korea” (2013).
Moving from theatre to television, Lee acted in well-known Korean films in 2012, including the romantic comedy “All About My Wife” by Min Kyu-dong and the psychological thriller “Helpless” by Byun Young-joo. With parts in independent motion pictures such as “Night and Day” (2008), “Oki’s Movie” (2010), and “Nobody’s Daughter Haewon” (2013) directed by Hong Sang-soo, he showed his flexibility.
Lee assumed the lead role in the first-ever Korean-language original series on Apple TV+, “Dr. Brain,” in 2021. In six episodes, he played Koh Se-won, a neurologist who uses brain research to solve a family mystery in a science fiction thriller.
Actress Jeon Hye-jin, Lee’s spouse, and their two sons are left behind.
1-800-273-8255 is the National Suicide Prevention hotline number for anyone in need of assistance or experiencing a crisis.