The award-winning director whose career derailed following sexual misconduct allegations has passed away at the age of 59 following a struggle with coronavirus.
- December 12, 2020
AceShowbiz - South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk has succumbed to coronavirus complications at the age of 59.
The director passed away early on Friday (11Dec20) at a hospital in Latvia, where he had been looking to buy a home before falling ill with COVID-19.
Kim made his feature directorial debut in 1996 with "Crocodile" and drew attention for his gruesome 2000 release "The Isle", which included animal cruelty scenes he claimed were real.
He went on to garner acclaim for romantic drama "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" in 2003, and triumphed at Germany's Berlin Film Festival with his 2004 movie "Samaritan Girl", which earned him the Silver Bear prize for the second best movie in competition.
Kim also emerged victorious at the Venice Film Festival in the same year, when another romantic drama, "3-Iron", won the Silver Lion award.
His other well-received projects included "Breath", "Arirang", and "Pieta", which scored the coveted Golden Lion at Venice in 2012.
He debuted his most recent film, the Russian-language "Dissolve", at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2019.
Kim's career took a hit in 2017 after he was accused of sexual misconduct by three women, although a rape claim was dismissed in the courts due to a lack of evidence. He denied the sexual assault accusations.
He later filed lawsuits against one of his accusers and the maker of a documentary about his sexual misconduct allegations. He accused them of defamation, but his claims were tossed out by courts.
