Actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film Parasite found dead amid drugs probe

Lee Sun-kyun, an actor in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, was found dead on Wednesday in an apparent suicide in a car at a Seoul park after he was reported to have gone missing, officials in the South Korean capital said.

Lee, 48, who played the head of a wealthy household in the 2019 film, had faced police questioning three times over accusations of illegal drug use amid a government crackdown, with one session running 19 hours over the weekend.

The actor had said he was tricked into taking drugs by a bar hostess trying to blackmail him, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Authorities found Lee in a search triggered by the report that he was missing, a fire official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the matter is a sensitive one.

Earlier, citing police, Yonhap said Lee was found in a car at a park in Seoul, after his manager told police the actor had left home, leaving an apparent suicide note. Previously it said his wife had reported the incident.

Officials at Seoul’s Jongno and Seongbuk police stations did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment. Lee’s agency, HODU&U Entertainment, also did not respond to calls.

However, domestic media cited a statement by the agency that expressed sadness at the death, while urging restraint regarding false information, speculation, or malicious reports.

Infringements of South Korea’s tough drug laws can lead to six months in jail, or up to 14 years for repeat offenders and dealers.

A dark-comedy thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho, Parasite won the Academy Award in 2020 in the four categories of best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film, off six Oscar nominations.

In the film, Lee acted as Mr Park, whose affluent home is infiltrated by members of a lower-class family posing as highly qualified domestic workers in a tangled scheme that leads to a gory end.

Lee, born in 1975, had leading roles in South Korean films such as the 2012 thriller Helpless and 2014’s All About My Wife.

He played the lead in Apple TV+’s first Korean-language original series, which rolled out in 2021. A six-episode sci-fi thriller, Dr Brain unspooled the tale of a cold-hearted neurologist hunting for clues to a mysterious family accident through brain experiments.

Lee’s wife is award-winning actor Jeon Hye-jin, and the couple had two children.