South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, star of the Oscar-winning film Parasites, was found dead last Tuesday, December 26. Lee, 48, was being investigated for a case of alleged drug use, which was highly covered by the media in the Asian country.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the actor's lifeless body was found in a central parking lot in Seoul at 10:30 a.m. this Wednesday (01:30 GMT). A charcoal briquette was found in the passenger seat, so everything indicates that the actor died of poisoning after inhaling carbon monoxide.
The search for the actor began after his family alerted the police that the interpreter had left an apparent farewell letter at his home, so everything indicates that Lee had taken his own life. The actor was not taken to the hospital, as he was declared dead by emergency services in the same parking lot where he was found.
Lee, 48, was being investigated on suspicion of using marijuana and other illegal drugs in South Korea. The actor had undergone three interrogations - the most recent last weekend, in which he remained with the authorities for 19 hours - after being accused of having consumed these substances in the residence of a woman who worked in a luxury bar in the district. Gangnam on several occasions since the beginning of the year.
In these interrogations, Lee always maintained that said woman had tricked him into consuming the substances, without him knowing what she was taking. In addition, the actor had tested negative for drugs in the reagent test that he underwent during the investigation, as well as in a laboratory test carried out by the National Forensic Service last November.
Just two days ago, the interpreter had submitted a request to the police department leading the investigation to undergo a polygraph test, claiming his innocence. Additionally, Lee filed a lawsuit in October against two people, including the aforementioned hostess, for blackmailing him after news of her alleged drug use surfaced. The woman was detained last month and police are believed to have requested an arrest warrant for the other person, according to Yonhap.
“I feel like it's a little too late, but I have finished the interrogations with the police regarding the blackmail case,” he said last weekend, after his last visit to police stations. “I hope the police wisely determine which testimonies are more reliable between those of the blackmailers and mine.”
Lee rose to international fame thanks to his role as Park Dong-Ik, head of a millionaire family with a terrible secret, in Parasites, by Bong Joon-ho; film that won four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film).
His role led him to win a SAG Award for his performance that same year. Among other works, his roles in the television series Dr. Brain (2022), My Mister (2018) and Coffee Prince (2007) also stand out.
The actor was married since 2009 to actress Jeon Hye-jin, with whom he formed one of the most established couples on the South Korean social scene. The couple has two children, ages 14 and 12.
