‘Parasite’ actor Lee Sun-kyun found dead in midst of drug probe, police say

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, known internationally for his role in the Academy Award-winning film “Parasite,” has died while being investigated for illegal drug use, police confirmed Wednesday. He was 48.

Police in the capital Seoul said in a statement they had received a missing person report from Lee’s manager on their hotline. Lee, who received acclaim for his role as Park Dong-ik, the father of the wealthy Park family in “Parasite,” was found in his car on Wednesday morning.

The cause of death is “presumed to be suicide,” police said.

Photos from the scene on Wednesday show personnel in forensic outfits investigating a car cordoned off by police tape.

Police in the city of Incheon confirmed that Lee had been questioned three times since October as part of an investigation into alleged drug use.

Lee had been summoned by police most recently on December 23 and held for 19 hours before he was released the following day.

Throughout the investigation, Lee’s drug tests had all come back negative, Incheon police said, without specifying how many tests he had taken.

Lee had claimed he was tricked into using drugs and subsequently blackmailed by the same individual, police said. Lee filed a lawsuit against the alleged blackmailer, according to police, who added they had received a tip about his alleged drug use before he filed suit.

One man and one woman have been arrested in relation to the drug investigation, police said. On December 26, he had requested police through his lawyers to conduct a polygraph examination of himself and two other people police apprehended.

The police also offered their condolences to the actor’s bereaved family, saying they had tried to prevent media leaks about his drug investigation before its completion – in accordance with South Korean law, which prohibits those involved in a criminal investigation from releasing facts about the suspect before a public indictment is released.

Police in Seoul said Lee’s family did not want an autopsy to be conducted.

A funeral for Lee will be held “quietly” with family members and colleagues in attendance, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Wednesday, citing his agency, Hodu & U Entertainment.

“Actor Lee Sun-kyun passed away today,” the company said, according to Yonhap. “There is no way to contain the sorrow and devastated feelings.”

“Please refrain from spreading false information based on speculation or assumption,” the company added.

CNN reached out to the agency for comment and did not immediately hear back.

Various media events in South Korea’s entertainment business have been scrapped in the wake of Lee’s sudden death.

The director and cast of South Korea’s hit film, “12:12: The Day,” canceled an event on Thursday where it had intended to meet with fans in celebration of the film surpassing 10 million in ticket sales.

The South Korean network tvN also canceled an event where it would present a new drama on Wednesday afternoon.

Strict drug laws

​​South Korea has some of the world’s strictest drug laws. The most serious drug-related crimes such as trafficking and deal can be punishable by up to life in prison, police told CNN, and citizens can also be charged for taking drugs abroad.

Drug laws have in the past forced celebrities in South Korea to retreat from stardom, as scandals have led to actors’ contracts being canceled and movie releases being postponed.

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Joe Pepitone, a three-time All-Star who played for the New York Yankees between 1962 and 1969, died at the age of 82, according to an announcement from the team on March 13.

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Dick Fosbury, a legendary high jumper who won Olympic gold and revolutionized the event with his "Fosbury flop" technique, died of lymphoma on March 12, according to his publicist Ray Schulte. Fosbury was 76.

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South African rapper Costa Titch died suddenly, his family said in a March 12 Instagram post, hours after performing at a music festival. The musician, whose real name is Constantinos Tsobanoglou, was 28.

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Longtime Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant died March 11 at the age of 95, the team said in a statement. Grant coached the Vikings for 18 seasons, from 1967 through 1983 and again in 1985. The team went to four Super Bowls while he was coach.

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Masatoshi Ito, the Japanese billionaire who turned 7-Eleven convenience stores into a global empire, died at age 98 on March 10.

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Renowned architect Eugene Kohn died March 9 at the age of 92. Kohn was a co-founder of the architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, whose best-known projects include New York City's One Vanderbilt and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

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Robert Blake, an Emmy-winning actor who starred in the crime series "Baretta," died on March 9, according to his daughter, Delinah Blake Hurwitz. He was 89. In 2001, Blake's second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was found murdered in the San Fernando Valley. In 2005, he was acquitted of murder charges relating to the case. He later lost a civil suit brought forth by Bakley's children.

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Peterson Zah, who led the Navajo Nation as chairman and its first president, died on March 7. He was 85.

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Guitarist Gary Rossington, the last surviving founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on March 5. He was 71.

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Tom Sizemore, an actor known for his roles in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Natural Born Killers," died on March 3. He was 61. The actor was hospitalized after suffering a brain aneurysm in mid-February.

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Rafael Viñoly, the Uruguayan-born architect who designed 20 Fenchurch Street in London — aka "The Walkie-Talkie" — died on March 2, his firm said. He was 78.

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Wayne Shorter, a Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer who helped shape the sound of contemporary jazz, died March 2, according to his publicist. He was 89.

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French soccer legend Just Fontaine, who still holds the record for the most goals scored by a player at a single World Cup, died March 1 at the age of 89. Fontaine scored 13 goals in six matches at the 1958 World Cup.

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Jerry Richardson, the founder and former owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, died at the age of 86 on March 1, the team announced.

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Lorenzo "Lo" Jelks, Atlanta's first Black television news reporter, died at the age of 83, CNN affiliate WSB reported on February 25. Jelks joined WSB-TV in 1967 and stayed for nearly a decade, according to the Atlanta Press Club.

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Richard Belzer, the comedian and actor best known for playing Detective John Munch across a number of NBC crime dramas over more than two decades, died on February 19, according to his longtime manager. He was 78.

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Actress Stella Stevens, who appeared in a string of movies in the 1960s and '70s such as "The Nutty Professor" and "The Poseidon Adventure," died February 17, according to her son. She was 84.

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Tim McCarver, a longtime Major League Baseball broadcaster who won two World Series titles during his 21-year playing career, died at the age of 81, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced on February 16.

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Raquel Welch, an actress who became an international sex symbol in the 1960s, died on February 15, according to a statement provided by her manager, Steve Sauer. She was 82.

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David Jude Jolicoeur, center, better known as Trugoy the Dove from the iconic rap trio De La Soul, died February 12 at the age of 54. A cause of death was not provided.

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Austin Majors, a former child actor best known for his role as Theo Sipowicz on "NYPD Blue," died on February 11, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's office. He was 27. The cause of death was under investigation.

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Burt Bacharach, the acclaimed composer and songwriter behind dozens of mellow pop hits from the 1950s to the 1980s, including "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and the theme from the movie "Arthur," died at the age of 94, a family member of Bacharach confirmed to CNN on February 9.

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World-famous fashion designer Paco Rabanne died at the age of 88 on February 3. The Spanish designer, born Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo, founded his eponymous fashion house in 1966 and courted both praise and controversy for his creations.

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Bobby Beathard, NFL executive and Pro Football Hall of Famer, died January 30 at the age of 86. Beathard helped to build teams that won four Super Bowls, including the 1972 Miami Dolphins team that finished undefeated.

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Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull died January 30 at the age of 84, the Chicago Blackhawks announced. "The Golden Jet" was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in 2017.

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Actress Annie Wersching died of cancer on January 29, her publicist, Craig Schneider, told CNN. She was 45. Wersching was best known for playing FBI agent Renee Walker in the series "24." She also provided the voice for Tess in "The Last of Us" video game.

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Lisa Loring, best known as the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in the original "The Addams Family" sitcom, died January 28 at the age of 64.

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Tom Verlaine, founding member of seminal New York punk band Television, died on January 28 "after a brief illness," according to a news release from Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Verlaine's former partner Patti Smith. He was 73.

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Former Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Jessie Lemonier died on January 26, according to a statement from the Lions. He was 25. The Lions did not provide details on the cause of death.

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Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," died January 25 at the age of 75.

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Lance Kerwin, an actor best known for his role in "James at 15" and the TV miniseries "Salem's Lot" as well as other notable series throughout the '70s, died at the age of 62, his talent agent John Boitano told CNN on January 25.

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Balkrishna Doshi, one of the Indian subcontinent's most celebrated architects, died January 24 at the age of 95. He was India's first — and to date, only — winner of the Pritzker Prize, the profession's equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

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Mexican comedian Leopoldo Roberto Garcia Pelaez Benitez, who performed as "Polo Polo," died on January 23, his family announced. He was 78. Benitez was known for his adult-themed jokes and Spanish language puns, which were showcased in dozens of albums the comedian recorded throughout the 2000s.

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Sal Bando, a four-time Major League Baseball All-Star, died January 20 after a long battle with cancer. He was 78. From 1972 to 1974, Bando won three consecutive World Series titles as captain of the Oakland Athletics.

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David Crosby, a folk and rock music pioneer and one of the founding members of The Byrds as well as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, died at the age of 81, his family announced on January 19.

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Anton Walkes, a defender for Major League Soccer team Charlotte FC, died at the age of 25, the team announced in a statement on January 19. Walkes died from injuries suffered in a boating accident, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. He previously played for Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Atlanta United.

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The world's oldest known person, French nun Sister André, died at the age of 118 on January 17. Sister André, born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, lived near the French city of Toulon. She dedicated most of her life to religious service, according to a statement released by Guinness in April 2022.

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Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida died at the age of 95, news agency ANSA reported on January 16, citing members of her family. Together with Sophia Loren, Lollobrigida came to symbolize Italian actresses in the 1950s and 1960s.

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Veteran actor Al Brown, who became famous for his role in the hit TV show "The Wire," died on January 13. He was 83. Brown made his name playing police commander Stanislaus "Stan" Valchek in the show about the Baltimore drugs trade.

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Robbie Knievel, who followed in the daredevil footsteps of his father Evel Knievel, died on January 13. He was 60. According to his brother Kelly, Robbie had advanced pancreatic cancer and "knew he was sick for probably six months."

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Singer Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of the late Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, died on January 12, hours after being hospitalized following an apparent cardiac arrest, her mother said. She was 54.

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Robbie Bachman, the drummer of Canadian rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, died at the age of 69, his brother and bandmate Randy Bachman announced via Twitter on January 12.

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Carole Cook, a veteran actress beloved for her work on stage and screen, died on January 11. She was 98.

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Jeff Beck, the rock guitarist often regarded among the greatest of all-time, died at the age of 78, according to a statement posted to his official social media accounts on January 11. Beck rose to fame in the '60s when he replaced Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds. He left a year later to start his own group The Jeff Beck Group, featuring Rod Stewart and Ron Wood.

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Tatjana Patitz, who rose to fashion fame in the '90s as an animal-loving supermodel with a piercing gaze, died from breast cancer on January 11, her agent confirmed to CNN. Patitz was 56.

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Actress Melinda Dillon, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for the movies "A Christmas Story" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," died January 9, according to a cremation service in Long Beach, California. She was 83.

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Lynette Hardaway, a prominent conservative social media personality and member of the duo Diamond & Silk, died at the age 51, a post on the pair's Facebook account announced on January 9.

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Bernard Kalb, the long-time journalist and founding anchor of CNN's "Reliable Sources" program, died on January 8, his family said. He was 100.

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Adam Rich, an actor who rose to fame as a child playing the youngest Bradford family member, Nicholas, on the TV drama "Eight Is Enough," died January 7, according to a report by TMZ, citing his family. He was 54.

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Italian football legend Gianluca Vialli died on January 6 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Vialli, 58, played for Italian clubs Sampdoria and Juventus, where he won the 1996 Champions League before playing for the English Premier League team Chelsea. He also played 59 times for the Italian national team.

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Walter Cunningham, a retired NASA astronaut who piloted the first crewed flight in the space agency's famed Apollo program, died on January 3. He was 90.

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Professional rally driver and YouTube star Ken Block died in a snowmobile accident on January 2. He was 55. Before embarking on his rally driving career, Block co-founded sportswear company DC Shoes in 1994, which went on to become one of the most recognizable skateboarding apparel brands in the world.

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Fred White, a drummer for classic '70s superband Earth, Wind & Fire, died January 1 at the age of 67. With the band, White won six Grammys and was nominated a total of 13 times. In 2000, Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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Art McNally, the "father of instant replay" and the first game official inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died January 1 at the age of 97.

In October 2022, South Korea’s justice ministry announced it would establish a government-wide cooperation system in response to increased drug use in the country. Earlier this year, President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to “mobilize all capabilities of the entire government to achieve victory” in his war on drugs.

Lee, whose career spanned more than two decades and made him a household name domestically, shot to international fame after his performance in “Parasite,” which became the first non-English film and first South Korean film to win best picture at the Academy Awards in 2020.

He also won praise for his roles in the 2007 television series “Behind the White Tower,” the 2010 series “Pasta,” and the sci-fi thriller series “Dr. Brain,” for which he was nominated for an International Emmy Award.

His last film, the horror movie “Sleep” – in which he played a husband whose sleepwalking becomes increasingly grotesque – premiered this summer. It was warmly received by critics and praised by “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho.

Lee leaves behind his wife, the renowned Korean actress Jeon Hye-jin, and their two sons.

How to get help: Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters. In the US: Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Globally: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.

This is a developing story and has been updated.