The South Korean authorities have launched an investigation into the tragic death of the 'Parasite' actor as the car where his body was found is being towed away.
- December 28, 2023
AceShowbiz - Lee Sun-kyun's car in which he was discovered dead after an apparent suicide has been towed away as police begin an investigation into his death.
South Korea's emergency office announced the "Parasite" actor, 48, was found unconscious in a car in a central Seoul park on Wednesday, December 27 with the country's Yonhap news agency reporting his body was found after his wife Jeon Hye-jin alerted officers to what appeared to be a suicide note she had found from her husband.
Dad-of-two Lee, famed for playing the Park family father in the 2019 Best Picture Oscar winner "Parasite", had reportedly been under police investigation over his alleged use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs - and had been questioned three times by police over his alleged drug use, including a 19 hour interrogation by authorities over the weekend.
Police have been seen investigating the car in which the actor's body was found at a park in central Seoul, with reports saying authorities had found a charcoal briquette in the passenger seat of the car.
Yonhap reported Lee claimed he had been tricked into taking drugs by a bar hostess who then tried to blackmail him.
Those convicted of drug related offences in South Korea face tough punishments, with repeat offenders and dealers often facing up to 14 years in jail.
Lee, who won a Screen Actors Guild Award along with his "Parasite" castmates in 2020, briefly spoke with reporters in late October before entering an Incheon police station, telling them, "I sincerely apologise for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident. I feel sorry for my family, which is enduring such difficult pain at this moment."
Lee married his girlfriend of seven years Jeon Hye-jin in May 2009, with the couple having two sons.
