Seoul, South Korea
Actor Lee Sun-kyun’s sudden dying this week is the newest in a string of shock superstar losses in South Korea, a rustic with one of the world’s highest suicide charges and the place public figures are sometimes anticipated to be paragons.
Lee, who obtained popularity of his function as Park Dong-ik, the daddy of the rich Park household within the Academy Award-winning “Parasite,” was discovered lifeless in his automotive on Wednesday morning in what police mentioned was a suspected suicide. His funeral was anticipated to be held later on Friday.
At the time of his dying the 48-year-old father of two was being investigated by police over allegations of unlawful drug use and had not too long ago been by way of a number of rounds of prolonged questioning.
One of Lee’s attorneys instructed NCS this week that the actor felt “aggrieved” about the best way police had been dealing with the drug investigation, together with how particulars turned up in native media.
Lee’s dying comes as South Korea has seen a spate of suspected suicides amongst its celebrities lately, particularly younger Okay-pop stars.
Each time these deaths have reignited conversations concerning the psychological well-being of South Korean celebrities and public figures, casting a spotlight on the pressures they face within the aggressive and irritating Korean leisure trade and the pitfalls for these deemed to have made transgressions.
In December 2017, famous person Kim Jong-hyun, higher generally known as Jonghyun, took his personal life on the age of 27. Two years later Okay-pop singer Sulli, previously of the band f(x), was discovered lifeless at her house on the age of 25 in an apparent suicide.
Around six weeks later, fellow Okay-pop artist Goo Hara, previously a member of lady band Kara, was discovered lifeless at 28. Police wouldn’t remark on a trigger of dying, however Goo beforehand revealed she was affected by despair.
And in April this 12 months, Okay-pop followers world wide had been left heartbroken by the loss of Moon Bin, a member of the favored boy band Astro, on the age of 25.
Okay-pop idols specifically are recognized to be topic to intense scrutiny and excessive expectations from their strict administration, which has been linked to a mental health crisis within the trade.
For years it was not unusual for Okay-pop stars to be anticipated to not have relationships, with some even having a “no dating” clause of their contracts.
“Scandals involving drinking, drugs, or even dating not only make waves in the entertainment news section but also the finance news section because many of the biggest Korean music management companies are also publicly traded stocks on the Korean stock exchange,” music trade govt Bernie Cho told NCS in 2018 when two main stars of the time confirmed they had been courting.
Attitudes towards courting have slowly begun to vary, partly as a result of followers have turn out to be extra keen to just accept relationships between stars. But South Korea’s leisure trade stays a high-pressure surroundings with intense coaching regimens and expectations from followers and trade energy brokers alike.
South Korea’s psychological well being disaster stretches throughout class divides and touches all components of society.
In 2021, the suicide charge in South Korea was 26 out of each 100,000 folks, in keeping with the nation’s Health and Welfare Ministry. South Korea additionally has the highest rate of youth suicide among the many Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations. In Japan, the OECD’s determine is 15.7 per 100,000 folks whereas within the United States it’s 14.1 per 100,000.
In September, a whole bunch of hundreds of academics throughout the nation held mass protests after the suspected suicide of a trainer that was extensively blamed on South Korea’s high-pressure education system and the burden it places on teachers.
Government information reveals 100 public college academics in South Korea – principally elementary college academics – took their very own lives from January 2018 to June 2023.
South Korean politics has additionally seen high-profile instances. In 2009, former president Roh Moo-hyun took his personal life amid an investigation right into a bribery scandal that had tarnished his fame.
Following Sulli and Goo’s deaths, Paik Jong-woo, a psychiatrist and the director of the Korea Suicide Prevention Center, attributed half of the excessive suicide charge to social stigma. Fewer South Koreans who are suffering from despair search assist than in different developed international locations, studies show.
Those within the leisure trade is likely to be particularly in danger, in keeping with Paik.
“Artists tend to experience emotions more vividly and because their job is being loved by the public, they cannot help but be more sensitive to public views,” he mentioned.
Paik defined that celebrities typically can not entry psychological well being professionals because of concern of public disgrace and lack of time of their schedules. An common day for a Okay-pop star will be 16 hours or longer, stuffed with every little thing from dance apply to singing classes, language class and digital camera coaching.
“There needs to be special attention to prevent celebrity suicides,” Paik mentioned.
Lee Gyu-tag, a professor of cultural research at George Mason University Korea in Incheon, thinks South Korea’s intesely on-line tradition additionally performs a task.
“I believe that the internet is also having an influence in imposing stricter moral standards on actors and singers in Korea,” he instructed NCS.
“Whether they did drugs or committed illegal crimes, if it is not a serious mistake, they should be punished by law, and that’s it. But the public seem to think that people in the entertainment business deserve criticism or shameful comments on the internet.”
Lee’s dying got here whereas he was being investigated for unlawful drug use at time when South Korea’s conservative authorities has been pushing a crackdown on medicine and the police are beneath strain to ship outcomes.
Like many locations in East and Southeast Asia, South Korea has some of the world’s strictest drug legal guidelines with prolonged jail sentences and an intense social stigma connected to drug use.
According to South Korean police, Lee had claimed he was tricked into utilizing medicine and subsequently blackmailed by a person. Lee filed a lawsuit towards the alleged blackmailer, in keeping with police, who added they’d obtained a tip about his alleged drug use earlier than he filed swimsuit.
But all through the investigation, Lee’s drug exams had all come again destructive, police added. Police have since closed the drug investigation following’s Lee’s dying.
A lawyer for Lee, who didn’t need to be named as a result of delicate nature of the case, mentioned his consumer was upset that the police investigation was constructed on the phrase of folks he accused of blackmailing him, reasonably than on scientific proof. He had repeatedly denied deliberately taking unlawful medicine.
There “was a dispute between Lee’s testimonies and the blackmailers’ testimonies,” the lawyer mentioned, including that particulars of the investigation being leaked to the media additionally prompted Lee ache.
Incheon police provided their condolences to Lee’s household on Wednesday, expressing remorse that particulars of his drug investigation had been prematurely made public earlier than its completion, regardless of their efforts to forestall it.
“It’s difficult to say that the details came from the police, as there are other agencies in the legal system that have access to such information,” police added.
South Korean legislation prohibits these concerned in a felony investigation from releasing information concerning the suspect earlier than a public indictment is launched.
How to get assist: In the US, name the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide can also present contact data for disaster facilities world wide.