Lee Sun Kyun, the Oscar -winning actor of Parasite , was found dead inside his car on December 27, 2023. Although the cause of his death is apparent suicide, days before, he was questioned by the police over an alleged drug offense. He appeared for an investigation on December 23 but denied the use of stimulants.
The South Korean actor who breathed his last at 10.30 am on Wednesday was being probed in an illegal drug use case since October 2023, per The Sun . The police called him and questioned him for 19 hours. But he reiterated to have been blackmailed by his accusers, a local barmaid.
Before his death, he arrived at the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency in Incheon, where he was quizzed three times after being accused of using marijuana and other illegal drugs at the home of a bar hostess employed in Seoul’s Gangnam district, who claimed the late actor took drugs at her place multiple times.
He shared his ordeal with The Korea Times , “I feel like it is a bit too late, but I’ve finished the questioning by the police about the blackmail case. I hope the police wisely determine which statements are more reliable between mine and the blackmailers.”
However, amid the ongoing drug trial, the actor’s family reportedly filed a missing complaint after discovering a letter similar to a suicide note. Police located his vehicle, and he was immediately taken to the Seoul National University Hospital. His loved ones have refused to go for an autopsy, and his burial will take place on Friday, December 29, 2023, per BBC.
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Regarding his drug scandal, Sun Kyun claimed the barmaid deceived him into taking drugs and also filed a complaint against the woman in her 20s for allegedly extorting some £212,000 ($ 271515), according to The Korea Herald . During the investigation, he admitted to having met the hostess four times and inhaled the powder, assuming it was a crushed sleeping pill.
The actor confessed, “I inhaled using a straw through my nose but thought it was a sleeping pill. I had no idea it was a drug.” But the unnamed barmaid told cops it was ketamine. The investigation also revealed the exact dates and locations where the drug incidents happened.
However, he tested negative in a reagent test that cops conducted during the investigations and also in the National Forensic Service’s more elaborate drug test in November. The hostess stated, “I saw Lee Sun-kyun inhale ketamine powder using a straw. I mentioned ketamine to him, and he seemed curious, so I got it for him, and he used it.”
The late actor’s lawyers asked the Drug Crime Investigation Unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, “We are in an incredibly unjust situation. Lee Sun Gyun should undergo a polygraph test to scientifically verify whose statement is accurate.” Sun Kyun’s lawyers also requested the police proceedings to be less public as the late actor felt “burdened” by the media.
The 48-year-old actor shot to fame for his role as Dong Ik in the 2019 Oscar-winning thriller Parasite, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The 2019 film also became the first foreign language film to win in the coveted category. But unfortunately, after his drug scandal, he was dropped out from several projects.