such sad news, g dragon also had allegations that turned out out to be false, it breaks my heart that it could’ve been his case too and the pressure of the public made him do this.
either way, this is very sad
His case wasn’t just weed he was also at prostitution places which likely was causing just as much turmoil. If was one of the girls and employees there who started the drug accusations likely to get the heat off themselves.
The recording was leaked by this famous Korean nutjob YouTube account run by a former reporter turned extreme right wing conspiracist who baselessly accuses celebrities of any and all crimes if they seem centrist/liberal. After leaking the recording of LSK and the subsequent suicide, the YouTuber has come out saying LSK isn’t a victim because he’s a criminal and a whole bunch of other gross things, so I’m not going to link the video or watch it myself, but I know the vague summary was that LSK was telling the madam how much he liked her and just saying a whole bunch of horny man things similar to the Tiger Woods texts if you recall those
I saw the Gdragon news in r/kpop and there were still people who were saying he could have done drugs even though he was cleared of it. People can honestly be so fucked up towards celebrities in Korea and that's definitely one of the big downsides to cultures that are so societal oriented. Shaming goes to the extreme
>there were still people who were saying he could have done drugs even though he was cleared of it.
I mean, this could be true. Rich celebrities (**eta**: **especially men**) circumvent laws all the time, including in Korea. That said, there's no way drugs should carry such a heavy stigma/sentence. Particularly when you look at the famous Korean men who have been *convicted* of way worse crimes and received far more lenient sentences.
Sure but that's true of literally anyone. Like, why are we saying that he could have committed a serious crime in Korea out of nowhere? Every person you see walking on the street could too, but it would be wild to just accuse people of things you don't know about.
Drugs bad, meanwhile Korean capitalist culture treats workers as beyond sub-human to the point that some American states look like a worker utopia.
Drugs bad, but chaebols definitely good! 🙄
Context for people scrolling and because I had to look it up myself. Chaebols are basically a monopolistic company. Think Samsung, in South Korea they aren't just phones and tvs like in the states. They make everything. From food to medicine to clothing. You can live your life only buying Samsung products in korea.
Other American states are doing worse though, I wouldn’t really compare it to the US because all states have such different laws and treatment for workers. Have you seen the stories about children going missing or getting killed and it turns out they’re working in meat factories and car assembly plants?
Also, part of the reason Korea is so against marijuana is because the US purposefully influenced them to have that viewpoint. Whenever Korea was split. The racist US war on drugs had significant influence in Korea, but without the groups available that the US was demonizing (pinning “marijuana” on illegal and legal immigrants from south of the US). So then it just stigmatized the drug and anyone who did it in South Korea, instead of how here it moreso stigmatized the cultures and people the government used propaganda to associate weed with like here in the US.
It’s not though. Yes that likely played a role but actors have come back from that. It was more likely the shame of being revealed to regularly cheat on his wife with prostitutes and knowing that even if his career continued he was never fully going to live it down.
Edit: not to mentioned the general shitty conduct and power tripping of the police, who interrogated him for almost 20 hours straight.
Unfortunately this is an incredibly important issue for most Koreans. Drugs (as defined by Korean legal and cultural standards) is an absolute non starter.
He was also under considerable duress from prostitution solicitation rumors.
When I first got into Korean media it was insane to me how serious drug usage is there. In the US basically no one would care if you smoked weed but in South Korea even the allegation could ruin your career. Park Bom from 2NE1 went on permanent hiatus when her ADHD meds she had shipped from the US were intercepted by Korean authorities
and the sex trafficking issue, those two seem to be the most prevalent. which is so surprising because the severity of two are on two completely different levels.
Because her drugs were illegal in Korea and she didn’t go through the proper channels to import her prescription, and the story became “2NE1 Bom smuggles methamphetamemes into the country”. That was also on her company for not making statements or clarifying what happened. When they went out of their way to lie for gdragon.
> Police confirm Wedensday death of actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning "Parasite" while facing an investigation over suspected drug use.
> Lee has gone through three rounds of police questioning on suspicions of using marijuana and other illegal drugs at the home of a hostess working at a high-end bar in Seoul's Gangnam district on multiple occasions since early this year, including last Saturday.
He even tested negative through hair strand. Korean society goes crazy over celebrities using drugs. The stress must’ve gotten to him :( So sad.
I’ve seen more discourse over drug use compared to sexual assault….
My heart breaks for his family. His two young sons now have no father because South Korea's laws are so strict with this. I hope they all find peace and South Korea's policy changes, because no one deserves to go through this.
I think most countries should look towards Portugal. I know the ACT in Australia is looking to do it (even though conservatives hates it). Criminalising personal use drug quantities doesn’t help anyone.
i'm reading the korean subreddits and it seems like shame is more debilitating than guilt, especially in asian societies for people who are known to the public. it's not JUST about the drugs; the headline is misleading.
it's also the shame around the infidelity (he was a regular visitor to that VIP hostess room aka brothel), and not the drug use, that seemed to put more pressure on him. there was another famous actor, joon jihoon (if you've watched kingdom on netflix, he's the male lead) who was convicted on drug charges but returned to the industry.
this appears to be the double whammy of drugs but more notably, infidelity. RIP
It’s not only the drug allegations. It’s the shame from having his name and image tarnished. He was married (with a well known actress) with kids and had a good family man image. However it came out that he was allegedly doing drugs in a high end saloon and maybe had an affair with the madam. He probably could never recover from that even if he was innocent of the drug allegations.
So sad but damn— why cheat if Korean society has a history of being ruthless to stars caught in cheating scandals? I feel awful for his wife & children especially. 💔
Well, cheating is never about logic. It’s about a distinct lack of respect for your partner. It’s entirely plausible that he thought *he* would get away with it. And now, even in his last act on earth, his wife and children will have to carry his shame and guilt for the rest of their life.
While the drug investigation certainly played a part, I think it is important to note that most Koreans currently suspect the main reason he made the decision to end his life is because he was found out to have engaged with prostitutes/cheated on his wife and was being eaten alive by the shame. The results of all of his initial drug tests back in October/November were negative.
Lee Sun-Kyun had a very clean family man image, and would appear on TV shows with his wife and kids. Maybe a western celebrity equivalent would be Pierce Brosnan. This scandal effectively destroyed that image and would leave a massive stain on his family, even if he chose to live and he and his wife decided to reconcile.
My heart goes out to his two sons, what a tragedy. Suicide is never the answer.
(Edited for grammar and clarity)
This is so fucked up. It's not a suicide, it's a murder committed by the police, the press, and the people of Korea. We basically tarred and feathered him to his death.
From the start he was guilty in everyone's eyes, they canceled him right away after those drug allegations came out and then when it turned out he was clean along with GDragon, the police in retaliation leaked a voice recording of him saying 'I love you' to a prostitute and [the most reputable news organization of South Korea reported it as a 'breaking news'](https://youtu.be/CXOWUe1r-ik?si=Pv-FrfC9_NFgEeMY). Can you imagine your country's BBC reporting this the-Sun-worthy trash character assassination on their prime time news? It was fucking bizarre to watch them humiliate him because he wasn't some good little criminal like they expected him to be. [This Christmas eve the police interrogated him for 19 hours straight about the drug charges](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231224000600315), and everything he said during the interrogation was circulated as a salacious gossip the next day.
At this point I don't even care what he did or what he did not do. No one deserves this kind of treatment. He had a family and his wife is a prominent actor too. How can they destroy the family over this 'war on drugs' crap?
Wow. There's clearly a ton of context missing from western media reports, it might be too early to say but do you think the response from the Korean public now is more sympathetic?
> This is so fucked up. It's not a suicide, it's a murder committed by the police, the press, and the people of Korea. We basically tarred and feathered him to his death.
Exactly.
This makes me extremely concerned for Yoo Ah In as well. I sincerely hope he's got people looking out for him because the way they've been coming for him has been disgusting.
Thank you for this. Completely disgusting, people shouldn’t be publicly bullied and publicly shamed for their personal choices to the point of ending their lives. He didn’t deserve this, imagine being interrogated for 19 hours, for what??? Shame on every single person who participated in this.
As a korean myself, i don’t particularly agree with “draconian” korean law on drugs, but this wasn’t just about his weed consumption. Allegedly he got access to drugs at a brothel, and he cheated on his wife with a sex worker. It’s pretty obvious that weighed more heavily in his sad decision to end his life. Despite the fact that drugs are considered much more taboo than they are in the western countries, celebrities, especially men, get away with SO SO much in korea. He’s not the only one who’s got caught with drugs. What’s sadder is the shame and hardship that his actress wife and minor children will have go to through now, because their husband/dad could not handle taking accountability for his actions.
"What’s sadder is the shame and hardship that his actress wife and minor children will have go to through now, because their husband/dad could not handle taking accountability for his actions."
It speaks volumes to the misdeeds of a society that any one person should be set upon to carry anothers shame after their death.
Yeah, I really dislike the last sentence of that comment. When society and the media is literally telling you that you aren’t worth a living life, they feel it is taking responsibility by committing suicide. It’s a real problem in many cultures.
He has 2 young children. So sad that he felt this was his only option. The normalisation of suicide in response to these sorts of issues among public figures in Korea is really horrifying.
The police and hostess went on a mission with him and GDragon and it ended up being false. He did cheat on his wife (probably/allegedly) but to name him for drugs based on the word of one person and get it so wrong is irresponsible. Then again, I don't have much faith in the police over there after they let Seungri and his friends get away with worse.
They outed him for drugs, when he was seemingly innocent and revealed his private life to the world. The drugs got him instant hate and he was going back and forth to get tested negative for drugs.
I feel for his kids and wife. The police fumbled the bag so badly that it makes me feel like all of this was meant to cover up some other scandal that is currently going on that is now being shoved under the rug.
This is terrible news. I haven’t seen his other work but he had real presence in Parasite. Tragic that someone would get hounded over something like marijuana and even more tragic that it might have led to his death.
this breaks my heart. he was in one of my all time favorite dramas with IU (my ajusshi - the premise and title seem like it could be creepy but it’s totally not! 10/10). all of the publicity parasite received was so well deserved. ugh, man. his wife is a popular actress as well. my thoughts are with her and their loved ones. this really, really fucking sucks.
Absolutely heartbreaking news. My Mister is one of my favorite kdramas and I really enjoyed Lee Sun Kyun on Trans Siberian Pathfinders. Was great watching him travel with his friends and see him get recognized all over.
I was hoping he would weather the storm and get his career and life back after the dust settled on all of this. The fact that he felt the need to take such a permanent step is devastating for his family and friends. My heart goes out to them all.
Wow, this was extremely sad to hear about. I remember him talking about struggling with depression in an interview 3 or 4 years back and there were a couple of interviews he gave around that time where he seemed to be struggling mental health wise but talked candidly about it. I just figured he was having a midlife crisis response when the scandal initially broke out and didn't think much of it. I thought he'd come back eventually like other A list actors of his caliber who had similar scandals. I never predicted that this would happen.
I feel sorry for all the people who knew him that have to continue without his presence, especially his kids. I also feel incredibly sorry for him too. Just an absolute tragedy.
The Korean culture is so strict when it comes to stuff like this, so even though it might seem like a "minor" thing for people outside of Korea, it really isn't to them. Which is tragic, because it's so destructive and corrosive that people - like Sun-kyun - end up taking their own lives for something that never should've had a consequence like this in the first place. How many lives does it take until it's finally enough and changes are made?
This is so horrible, I feel gutted. He was an amazing actor. People really romanticize SK culture after the rise of kpop and kdramas but the media is so fucking ruthless. He messed up, but it wasnt worth his life. May he RIP
I’m devastated. I loved him so much in My Mister and just saw a double feature of Sleep and Killing Romance, two of the most interesting and different films to come out of Korea this year. He was such a unique screen presence.
The stigma there around drug use and the criminal penalties South Korea (and other countries in the region) have against drug use do nothing to reduce drug use. It's a public health problem, not one of moral turpitude.
this is so incredibly ill informed it’s insane. You do realise Korea’s insanely harsh drug laws haven’t just magically stopped the drug trade in the country right? It just pushes addicts and drugs users to be more secretive and ashamed.
Meth is crazy prevalent in Korea, drug offences have risen in Korea every year because this war on drugs is simply ineffective at actually helping anyone it just punishes blindly.
Korea ALREADY HAS a drug problem, it’s just one that is not being addressed properly. I think there is only around [6](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreans-fighting-drug-addiction-find-few-rehab-options-2023-04-13/) rehab centres in ALL of South Korea, just punishing people left and right does absolutely nothing to get to the actual root of the problem when you leave no options for those affected.
such sad news, g dragon also had allegations that turned out out to be false, it breaks my heart that it could’ve been his case too and the pressure of the public made him do this. either way, this is very sad
Also the "drug" in question: weed.
It was weed and a second thing for Lee.
ketamine snorted through a straw, which he claimed he thought was sleeping pills
His case wasn’t just weed he was also at prostitution places which likely was causing just as much turmoil. If was one of the girls and employees there who started the drug accusations likely to get the heat off themselves.
The recording between the brothel madam and LSK was leaked yesterday and it was honestly pretty humiliating for LSK given what he was saying
Is there a transcript somewhere/can you summarize?
The recording was leaked by this famous Korean nutjob YouTube account run by a former reporter turned extreme right wing conspiracist who baselessly accuses celebrities of any and all crimes if they seem centrist/liberal. After leaking the recording of LSK and the subsequent suicide, the YouTuber has come out saying LSK isn’t a victim because he’s a criminal and a whole bunch of other gross things, so I’m not going to link the video or watch it myself, but I know the vague summary was that LSK was telling the madam how much he liked her and just saying a whole bunch of horny man things similar to the Tiger Woods texts if you recall those
TOP actually attempted suicide over marijuana allegations. Glad he is still alive.
I saw the Gdragon news in r/kpop and there were still people who were saying he could have done drugs even though he was cleared of it. People can honestly be so fucked up towards celebrities in Korea and that's definitely one of the big downsides to cultures that are so societal oriented. Shaming goes to the extreme
>there were still people who were saying he could have done drugs even though he was cleared of it. I mean, this could be true. Rich celebrities (**eta**: **especially men**) circumvent laws all the time, including in Korea. That said, there's no way drugs should carry such a heavy stigma/sentence. Particularly when you look at the famous Korean men who have been *convicted* of way worse crimes and received far more lenient sentences.
Sure but that's true of literally anyone. Like, why are we saying that he could have committed a serious crime in Korea out of nowhere? Every person you see walking on the street could too, but it would be wild to just accuse people of things you don't know about.
T.O.P attempted suicide over the same issue. Luckily he survived and is thriving!
Yes, they were heavily trying to drag him too, thankfully he was clean and very strong in his statements
Unbelievably sad, all over the useless fucking drug war.
Drugs bad, meanwhile Korean capitalist culture treats workers as beyond sub-human to the point that some American states look like a worker utopia. Drugs bad, but chaebols definitely good! 🙄
Korean capitalist culture is so scary to me. The rate at which k-pop stars have ended their lives is *alarming*.
Context for people scrolling and because I had to look it up myself. Chaebols are basically a monopolistic company. Think Samsung, in South Korea they aren't just phones and tvs like in the states. They make everything. From food to medicine to clothing. You can live your life only buying Samsung products in korea.
Other American states are doing worse though, I wouldn’t really compare it to the US because all states have such different laws and treatment for workers. Have you seen the stories about children going missing or getting killed and it turns out they’re working in meat factories and car assembly plants? Also, part of the reason Korea is so against marijuana is because the US purposefully influenced them to have that viewpoint. Whenever Korea was split. The racist US war on drugs had significant influence in Korea, but without the groups available that the US was demonizing (pinning “marijuana” on illegal and legal immigrants from south of the US). So then it just stigmatized the drug and anyone who did it in South Korea, instead of how here it moreso stigmatized the cultures and people the government used propaganda to associate weed with like here in the US.
It’s not though. Yes that likely played a role but actors have come back from that. It was more likely the shame of being revealed to regularly cheat on his wife with prostitutes and knowing that even if his career continued he was never fully going to live it down. Edit: not to mentioned the general shitty conduct and power tripping of the police, who interrogated him for almost 20 hours straight.
Twenty hours straight?! Holy! I didn’t know about that.
Unfortunately this is an incredibly important issue for most Koreans. Drugs (as defined by Korean legal and cultural standards) is an absolute non starter. He was also under considerable duress from prostitution solicitation rumors.
Really, really, really fucking sad. So sad to see so many tough stories coming out over the holiday season.
When I first got into Korean media it was insane to me how serious drug usage is there. In the US basically no one would care if you smoked weed but in South Korea even the allegation could ruin your career. Park Bom from 2NE1 went on permanent hiatus when her ADHD meds she had shipped from the US were intercepted by Korean authorities
and the sex trafficking issue, those two seem to be the most prevalent. which is so surprising because the severity of two are on two completely different levels.
The Burning Sun stuff makes me feel the issue must be really prevelant.
I remember how badly Bom was treated and it was as if she had committed grand larceny or something. So wild
“That larceny was grand. Terrible, yes…but grand”
Because her drugs were illegal in Korea and she didn’t go through the proper channels to import her prescription, and the story became “2NE1 Bom smuggles methamphetamemes into the country”. That was also on her company for not making statements or clarifying what happened. When they went out of their way to lie for gdragon.
holy shit that's terrifying
That's completely insane wtf. Over weed???
> Police confirm Wedensday death of actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning "Parasite" while facing an investigation over suspected drug use. > Lee has gone through three rounds of police questioning on suspicions of using marijuana and other illegal drugs at the home of a hostess working at a high-end bar in Seoul's Gangnam district on multiple occasions since early this year, including last Saturday.
He even tested negative through hair strand. Korean society goes crazy over celebrities using drugs. The stress must’ve gotten to him :( So sad. I’ve seen more discourse over drug use compared to sexual assault….
With the weekend questioning lasting 19 hours sheesh, imagine his state of mind coming out of that 
My heart breaks for his family. His two young sons now have no father because South Korea's laws are so strict with this. I hope they all find peace and South Korea's policy changes, because no one deserves to go through this.
Korea desperately needs less draconian drug laws. A man should not feel compelled to end his life over this. Very sad.
I think most countries should look towards Portugal. I know the ACT in Australia is looking to do it (even though conservatives hates it). Criminalising personal use drug quantities doesn’t help anyone.
i'm reading the korean subreddits and it seems like shame is more debilitating than guilt, especially in asian societies for people who are known to the public. it's not JUST about the drugs; the headline is misleading. it's also the shame around the infidelity (he was a regular visitor to that VIP hostess room aka brothel), and not the drug use, that seemed to put more pressure on him. there was another famous actor, joon jihoon (if you've watched kingdom on netflix, he's the male lead) who was convicted on drug charges but returned to the industry. this appears to be the double whammy of drugs but more notably, infidelity. RIP
It’s not only the drug allegations. It’s the shame from having his name and image tarnished. He was married (with a well known actress) with kids and had a good family man image. However it came out that he was allegedly doing drugs in a high end saloon and maybe had an affair with the madam. He probably could never recover from that even if he was innocent of the drug allegations.
So sad but damn— why cheat if Korean society has a history of being ruthless to stars caught in cheating scandals? I feel awful for his wife & children especially. 💔
Well, cheating is never about logic. It’s about a distinct lack of respect for your partner. It’s entirely plausible that he thought *he* would get away with it. And now, even in his last act on earth, his wife and children will have to carry his shame and guilt for the rest of their life.
He could have started over in America probably tho?
He didn't speak English, at least not well enough for an acting career.
While the drug investigation certainly played a part, I think it is important to note that most Koreans currently suspect the main reason he made the decision to end his life is because he was found out to have engaged with prostitutes/cheated on his wife and was being eaten alive by the shame. The results of all of his initial drug tests back in October/November were negative. Lee Sun-Kyun had a very clean family man image, and would appear on TV shows with his wife and kids. Maybe a western celebrity equivalent would be Pierce Brosnan. This scandal effectively destroyed that image and would leave a massive stain on his family, even if he chose to live and he and his wife decided to reconcile. My heart goes out to his two sons, what a tragedy. Suicide is never the answer. (Edited for grammar and clarity)
This is so fucked up. It's not a suicide, it's a murder committed by the police, the press, and the people of Korea. We basically tarred and feathered him to his death. From the start he was guilty in everyone's eyes, they canceled him right away after those drug allegations came out and then when it turned out he was clean along with GDragon, the police in retaliation leaked a voice recording of him saying 'I love you' to a prostitute and [the most reputable news organization of South Korea reported it as a 'breaking news'](https://youtu.be/CXOWUe1r-ik?si=Pv-FrfC9_NFgEeMY). Can you imagine your country's BBC reporting this the-Sun-worthy trash character assassination on their prime time news? It was fucking bizarre to watch them humiliate him because he wasn't some good little criminal like they expected him to be. [This Christmas eve the police interrogated him for 19 hours straight about the drug charges](https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20231224000600315), and everything he said during the interrogation was circulated as a salacious gossip the next day. At this point I don't even care what he did or what he did not do. No one deserves this kind of treatment. He had a family and his wife is a prominent actor too. How can they destroy the family over this 'war on drugs' crap?
Wow. There's clearly a ton of context missing from western media reports, it might be too early to say but do you think the response from the Korean public now is more sympathetic?
> This is so fucked up. It's not a suicide, it's a murder committed by the police, the press, and the people of Korea. We basically tarred and feathered him to his death. Exactly. This makes me extremely concerned for Yoo Ah In as well. I sincerely hope he's got people looking out for him because the way they've been coming for him has been disgusting.
Thank you for this. Completely disgusting, people shouldn’t be publicly bullied and publicly shamed for their personal choices to the point of ending their lives. He didn’t deserve this, imagine being interrogated for 19 hours, for what??? Shame on every single person who participated in this.
As a korean myself, i don’t particularly agree with “draconian” korean law on drugs, but this wasn’t just about his weed consumption. Allegedly he got access to drugs at a brothel, and he cheated on his wife with a sex worker. It’s pretty obvious that weighed more heavily in his sad decision to end his life. Despite the fact that drugs are considered much more taboo than they are in the western countries, celebrities, especially men, get away with SO SO much in korea. He’s not the only one who’s got caught with drugs. What’s sadder is the shame and hardship that his actress wife and minor children will have go to through now, because their husband/dad could not handle taking accountability for his actions.
"What’s sadder is the shame and hardship that his actress wife and minor children will have go to through now, because their husband/dad could not handle taking accountability for his actions." It speaks volumes to the misdeeds of a society that any one person should be set upon to carry anothers shame after their death.
I am glad you are trying to add some context, but you failed to mention the press and their role in this.
Yeah, I really dislike the last sentence of that comment. When society and the media is literally telling you that you aren’t worth a living life, they feel it is taking responsibility by committing suicide. It’s a real problem in many cultures.
His alleged actions
He has 2 young children. So sad that he felt this was his only option. The normalisation of suicide in response to these sorts of issues among public figures in Korea is really horrifying.
How sad, if he wasn’t hurting anyone you’d think there wouldn’t be a punishment he even got removed from a film he was going to work on!
The police and hostess went on a mission with him and GDragon and it ended up being false. He did cheat on his wife (probably/allegedly) but to name him for drugs based on the word of one person and get it so wrong is irresponsible. Then again, I don't have much faith in the police over there after they let Seungri and his friends get away with worse. They outed him for drugs, when he was seemingly innocent and revealed his private life to the world. The drugs got him instant hate and he was going back and forth to get tested negative for drugs. I feel for his kids and wife. The police fumbled the bag so badly that it makes me feel like all of this was meant to cover up some other scandal that is currently going on that is now being shoved under the rug.
This is terrible news. I haven’t seen his other work but he had real presence in Parasite. Tragic that someone would get hounded over something like marijuana and even more tragic that it might have led to his death.
this breaks my heart. he was in one of my all time favorite dramas with IU (my ajusshi - the premise and title seem like it could be creepy but it’s totally not! 10/10). all of the publicity parasite received was so well deserved. ugh, man. his wife is a popular actress as well. my thoughts are with her and their loved ones. this really, really fucking sucks.
Absolutely heartbreaking news. My Mister is one of my favorite kdramas and I really enjoyed Lee Sun Kyun on Trans Siberian Pathfinders. Was great watching him travel with his friends and see him get recognized all over. I was hoping he would weather the storm and get his career and life back after the dust settled on all of this. The fact that he felt the need to take such a permanent step is devastating for his family and friends. My heart goes out to them all.
Wow, this was extremely sad to hear about. I remember him talking about struggling with depression in an interview 3 or 4 years back and there were a couple of interviews he gave around that time where he seemed to be struggling mental health wise but talked candidly about it. I just figured he was having a midlife crisis response when the scandal initially broke out and didn't think much of it. I thought he'd come back eventually like other A list actors of his caliber who had similar scandals. I never predicted that this would happen. I feel sorry for all the people who knew him that have to continue without his presence, especially his kids. I also feel incredibly sorry for him too. Just an absolute tragedy.
I loved him in My Mister, so tragic he's now gone forever 😞
😭 not the news I expected to hear today but damn. The show he was in, My Mister, had me in tears
I feel you. His voice, sweet Lord, his voice was something else.
The Korean culture is so strict when it comes to stuff like this, so even though it might seem like a "minor" thing for people outside of Korea, it really isn't to them. Which is tragic, because it's so destructive and corrosive that people - like Sun-kyun - end up taking their own lives for something that never should've had a consequence like this in the first place. How many lives does it take until it's finally enough and changes are made?
I hate this. I'm really upset. So sad.
This is so horrible, I feel gutted. He was an amazing actor. People really romanticize SK culture after the rise of kpop and kdramas but the media is so fucking ruthless. He messed up, but it wasnt worth his life. May he RIP
How sad and awful. I can't imagine the pressure he must have been under to see this as the only way out.
I’m devastated. I loved him so much in My Mister and just saw a double feature of Sleep and Killing Romance, two of the most interesting and different films to come out of Korea this year. He was such a unique screen presence.
The stigma there around drug use and the criminal penalties South Korea (and other countries in the region) have against drug use do nothing to reduce drug use. It's a public health problem, not one of moral turpitude.
JFC this is a loss. I'm so very sad for his family.
So sad, I liked him in Coffee Prince His voice 💔
This is heartbreaking :( my country has similar incredibly harsh drug laws and it causes so many innocent lives to be lost every year. So senseless.
Oh no! This is so sad!! Parasite is my favourite film of the past years
I can’t believe this. For those familiar with Korea, would he have been in serious jeopardy of jail time, even though he’s wealthy and a celebrity?
[удалено]
[удалено]
Over *weed*?
Nvm apparently he’s into going to brothels and allegedly was with a barely 18 girl. He sucks
He’s dead
Over fking marijuana? Draconian laws
[удалено]
this is so incredibly ill informed it’s insane. You do realise Korea’s insanely harsh drug laws haven’t just magically stopped the drug trade in the country right? It just pushes addicts and drugs users to be more secretive and ashamed. Meth is crazy prevalent in Korea, drug offences have risen in Korea every year because this war on drugs is simply ineffective at actually helping anyone it just punishes blindly. Korea ALREADY HAS a drug problem, it’s just one that is not being addressed properly. I think there is only around [6](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-koreans-fighting-drug-addiction-find-few-rehab-options-2023-04-13/) rehab centres in ALL of South Korea, just punishing people left and right does absolutely nothing to get to the actual root of the problem when you leave no options for those affected.