 |
|
Late actor Lee Solar Kyun. Photograph from Lee’s administration company’s Instagram |
In line with Enterprise Insider, a nationally televised press convention was held on Jan. 12 in Seoul by The Affiliation of Solidarity of Cultural Artists, a company shaped in response to Lee’s passing. Bong and fellow administrators, producers, and writers launched a deliberate assertion at this occasion, criticizing the police’s dealing with of the drug investigation and the media’s intrusion into Lee’s private life.
They burdened the necessity for an intensive investigation to determine any failures within the police’s investigative course of, particularly regarding media leaks that led to relentless primetime publicity for Lee with none protecting measures.
The group additionally highlighted the “extreme character assassination” Lee suffered earlier than his loss of life, calling for authorized reforms to guard human rights throughout prison investigations. Subsequently, the artist group urged media retailers to retract articles that they deemed irresponsible. In addition they referred to as on the federal government and the Nationwide Meeting to reevaluate legal guidelines concerning the “human rights of artists.”
Lee, aged 48, who gained popularity of his function in the identical film, was found dead on Dec. 27, 2023 in what seemed to be a suicide, as reported by The Guardian.
The actor was below police investigation for alleged drug use on the time of his loss of life and had reportedly been questioned for 19 hours simply days earlier than. He had reportedly claimed in the course of the interrogations that he was tricked into taking medicine.
It’s reported that regardless of Lee’s request for a closed ultimate police interrogation, he was publicly paraded earlier than the media throughout his final go to to the police station, resulting in speculative reporting and rumors on his alleged drug use.
South Korea, which has the very best suicide fee amongst developed nations, has been grappling with superstar suicides linked to cyberbullying and public strain. This pattern underscores the cruel surroundings that public figures face within the nation, the place even private actions overseas can result in extreme authorized penalties.
The South Korean authorities’s intensified crackdown on drug use following the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which was attributed to alleged drug use, as reported by The Guardian. This crackdown has positioned many celebrities below scrutiny for alleged unlawful drug actions, together with Ok-pop group BigBang’s rapper T.O.P and actor Yoo Ah In from the Netflix collection “Hellbound.”
South Korea’s strict anti-drug legal guidelines and the excessive profile of those instances have intensified public curiosity and media protection.