“There is no way to contain the sorrow and despair."
Lee Sun-kyun, one of the stars of the Oscar-winning movie
Parasite, has died at the age of 48.
South Korean news agency
Yonhap reports that, at 10.30am on Wednesday (27 December), the actor was found dead in a car near a park in central Seoul.
Lee had been under investigation by police over his alleged use of marijuana and other psychoactive drugs.
According to Yonhap, the actor went through three rounds of police questioning - one of which took place last Saturday and had lasted 19 hours long.
The news agency also states that Lee had claimed he was tricked into taking the drugs by a bar hostess and accused her of trying to blackmail him.
South Korea’s strict drug laws mean he was potentially facing prison time as a result of the police investigation.
Lee Sun-kyun in Parasite
The actor was best known for playing Park Dong-ik in the thriller Parasite, the patriarch of the wealthy Park family who become the target of a scheme by the poorer Kim family to improve their living conditions.
Released in 2019, Parasite went on to win four Oscars including Best Picture.
Lee also had roles in the movies Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage, Night and Day, Nobody's Daughter Haewon and R-Point and was the lead of the Apple TV+ sci-fi series Dr. Brain.
He had also recently starred in the South Korean horror thriller Sleep as a man with nightmarish sleepwalking habits, with the film earning rave reviews upon its premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
The star’s agency HODU&U released the following statement following the news of his death: “There is no way to contain the sorrow and despair.
"We respectfully ask that you refrain from spreading false facts based on speculation… so that [Lee’s] final journey will be in peace."
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