Actor Lee Sun-kyun of South Korea, who won an Oscar for his performance in the movie “Parasite,” was discovered dead on Wednesday, seemingly from suicide, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Yonhap said that police had found the actor inside a car in a key Seoul park.
Police had been looking into Lee, 48, for possible marijuana and other psychotropic substance use.
Following the controversy, local news sites stated that the actor was being eliminated from television and commercial productions, despite once being praised for his wholesome image.
A graduate of South Korea’s prestigious Korea National University of Arts, Lee made his acting debut in 2001 in a television sitcom titled “Lovers”.
He later won acclaim for his performances in a variety of roles, including a charismatic chef and a diligent architectural engineer who learns his wife cheats on him.
Globally, he is best known for his portrayal of the wealthy and shallow patriarch in director Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Oscar-winning film “Parasite”.
His last film, this year’s horror flick “Sleep” — in which he played a husband whose sleepwalking eventually leads to horrifying circumstances — was well-received critically and featured in the Critics’ Week section at the Cannes festival.
He briefly spoke to reporters in late October before entering an Incheon police station to meet with investigators.
“I sincerely apologise for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident,” he said at the time.
“I feel sorry for my family, which is enduring such difficult pain at this moment.
“Once again, I sincerely apologise to everyone.”
South Korea has extremely tough laws on illegal drugs, with even Koreans who take drugs like marijuana legally abroad risking prosecution upon returning to their home country.
This year, President Yoon Suk Yeol called for more stringent measures to eliminate drug traffickers, saying the country was no longer “drug-free”.
He is survived by wife and actress Jeon Hye-jin and two sons.
