South Korean ‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun found dead in Seoul • FRANCE 24 English

South Korean ‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun found dead in Seoul • FRANCE 24 English

Uh you’ve mentioned most of what we know now an extremely popular actor uh who got his first breakthrough in 2007 in a television drama catapulted to International Fame uh with this zek geese capturing movie about middle class angs parasite which of course became the first ever foreign language film to win

An Oscar so a man definitely at the height of his powers suddenly struck down by what appears to be suicide and of course this is not by any means the first suicide among the celebrity class of South Korea we’re seeing a virtual uh epidemic of suicides in this country but

Particularly among some very very high-profile individuals that appears to be linked to allegations of drug use uh which he has himself resisted he said he didn’t take drugs voluntarily he was blackmailed into he was sorry he was uh past the drugs somehow in a a Kang nightclub and subsequently blackmailed

But nevertheless appears to have taken um his own life as you say Andrew he also recently been dropped hadn’t he from a a major TV series no way out in South Korea and Drug offenses there are considered a really serious crime I’m all right to say recently the National

Police talking about a war an allout War on Drugs yeah absolutely I mean you know in the west we have a very supportive infrastructure for people who who are addicted to drugs I it’s a health problem it’s a mental health problem here it’s a criminal problem uh and of

Course the prosecution authorities in sort of almost a hangover from Korea’s pre-democratic past have a very very high conviction rate uh and I think this conviction raate is is one of the things that drives suicides for for those who are under investigation again it’s not just e Yun who’s who’s died while under

The shadow of a prosecution investigation uh former president nushan killed himself when his family was being investigated um for alleged corruption a former mayor of Soul killed himself uh when he was facing allegations of sexual uh harassment so this is this is not an isolated case and many Koreans are

Asking themselves why so many people are doing this and I think if you speak to foreign observers of the Korean scene they’ll say that one of the reasons for Korea’s extraordinary National success is this very very traditional communal culture uh which sort of Unites the society the downside of that is this

Intense peer pressure on on how to behave and for public figures there’s very very little tolerance for a kind of Rock and Roll Lifestyle which we sort of tolerate among celebrities in the west uh and so we’re seeing many celebrities kill themselves when they come under

Just some hint of of of uh allegations of misbehavior um and this is a big problem it’s it’s widely perceived as a problem but as it’s not a political problem or an economic problem it’s difficult to know how to address this deep-seated social issue

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known globally for his role in the Oscar-winning film “Parasite”, was found dead in Seoul on Wednesday, police said. While the cause of death has yet to be determined, local media outlets speculated that Lee committed suicide, adding him to a growing list of South Korean actors who have killed themselves. “We’ve seen a virtual epidemic of suicides … particularly among some very, very high-profile individuals,” Washington Times Asia Editor Andrew Salmon told FRANCE 24.
#South Korea #Lee Sun-kyun #Parasite

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