South Korean actor Lee Solar-kyun was discovered lifeless inside a automotive, police introduced Wednesday, in accordance with a number of reviews. Lee, who performed the rich patriarch Park Dong-ik within the Oscar-winning film “Parasite” was 48 years previous.
Yonhap Information Company, citing police, mentioned that Lee was discovered at a park with a charcoal briquette in his passenger seat. Police additionally advised the company that his spouse had reported that he walked out of his dwelling after leaving what gave the impression to be a suicide word.
Earlier than this, investigators had been wanting into allegations that the actor had been utilizing unlawful substances and marijuana at a bar in Seoul. Per Yonhap, the actor denied that he ever deliberately took medicine and mentioned {that a} hostess gave him the medicine with out his data.
He was most not too long ago questioned in regards to the claims of drug use on Sunday in a 19-hour interrogation, Yonhap reported.
Lee was most identified abroad for his position within the 2019 thriller “Parasite,” which gained him a Display screen Actors Guild award. However in South Korea, his work spans over a decade.
Per the AP, he turned a family title after taking part in a music producer within the 2007 sequence “Espresso Prince.” In 2023, Lee starred within the film musical “Killing Romance,” which turned a cult basic in South Korea.
The information of Lee’s dying comes amid an ongoing crackdown on drug crimes within the nation.
In April, the South Korean authorities established a unit of 840 officers to research crimes akin to drug smuggling and drug dealing over the web, per Yonhap.
South Korea has strict drug legal guidelines, and repeat offenders or sellers can resist 14 years in jail, per Reuters.
Residents can be prosecuted for drug use even when they did so legally overseas.
There’s additionally been a spate of high-profile drug scandals involving well-liked Korean celebrities lately.
In July 2017, singer T.O.P. from Massive Bang was given a 10-month jail sentence for smoking marijuana with a trainee singer at his dwelling in Seoul, per Yonhap.
In October, actor Yoo Ah-in — identified for his roles within the 2018 movie “Burning” and the Netflix sequence “Hellbound” — was indicted for utilizing medicine habitually, per The Korea Instances.
Yoo was investigated after the nation’s Ministry of Meals and Drug Security accused him of taking propofol, a sleep-inducing drug, 73 instances in 2021, per The Korea Instances.
