Funeral held for ‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun

A private funeral has taken place for South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, who was best known for his roles in films such as Parasite and A Hard Day.

The service took place today (December 29) and was attended by the late actor’s family, close friends and colleagues, with the Korean media shut out of the event. His family had appealed to the media to stop making “painful and abrupt” visits to Lee’s home and agency as well as the service following months of intrusion into his personal life while he was under investigation for drugs use.

The media had also been criticised for publishing his alleged last note to his wife.

Lee is said to have been found dead in a car located in the Jongno District of Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday with a “charcoal briquette” in the passenger seat in what is believed to have been a suicide. Lee had also reportedly written “memo akin to a suicide note” prior to being found.

He was most recently spotted returning home on Christmas Eve (December 24), following a 19-hour police questioning over his alleged drug use.

At the time, Lee said, per Yonhap News Agency: “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.”

Lee Sun-kyun started his acting career in 2001 with stage roles in plays and musicals, before breaking into mainstream popularity with roles in the 2007 K-dramas White Tower and Coffee Prince.

In the following years, the actor would transition to film, with roles in several projects by Hong Sang-soo. These included 2008’s Night and Day, Oki’s Movie in 2010 and 2013’s Nobody’s Daughter Haewon.

In 2014, Lee would go on to star in the critically acclaimed feature film A Hard Day, before returning to television in 2016’s Listen to Love. He also led the 2021 Apple TV+ original series Dr. Brain.

The actor is perhaps best known for his role in Bong Joon-ho’s Academy Award winning 2019 film, Parasite, for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

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