Lee Sun-kyun’s death exposes South Korea’s zero-tolerance drug policy
The actor was being investigated for alleged drug use, something he denied.
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• Photo: Eduardo Munoz/reuters
Lee Sun-kyun
On the Asian continent, the drama had been going on for months with media coverage, without the majority of those who applauded ‘Parasites’ in the West knowing. Now, with the world news about the actor’s presumed suicide, and according to the newspaper ‘The Guardian’, Lee Sun-kyun had even given a press conference in Seoul, in October, on the subject, where, saddened, said: “I sincerely apologize for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident. I feel so sorry for my family, who are facing such difficult grief right now.” The actor from the multi-award winning ‘Parasites’ was found dead in his car parked in a park in Seoul – he reportedly left a note for his family. Hours before he was found, on the 27th, the 48-year-old actor had been interrogated again by the police – and no one knows for sure what happened for several hours, in the police facilities, of this democracy that is the apparently sane reverse of half crazy, to the north, governed by the grandson of Kim Il-sung, from the Korean peninsula.
Lee Sun-kyun was being investigated for alleged drug use, something he denied, according to ‘The Korea Times’, but also due to a cloudy case of blackmail, which involved a bar maid, with whom he allegedly took substances prohibited. The actor defended himself, saying that he had been deceived by his wife, with whom he had met on four occasions and to whom he had already handed over more than 220 thousand euros. The controversy that raged in the newspapers – always poorly explained – was already having repercussions on his professional life.
Lee Sun-kyun was born on March 2, 1975 in Seoul, South Korea, and received his artistic training at the Korean National University of the Arts Theater School. He had been married to actress Jeon Hye-jin since May 23, 2009. He had two children. The former Japanese colony, which fought a civil war (the Korean War) and had successive military governments, only benefited from democratic reforms from 1987, but since then it has become an economic giant, exporting brands such as Samsung, Hyundai or LG to the world. South Korea is also the fifth largest film market in the world – and Lee Sun-kyun is one of its protagonists. With ‘Paju’ (2009) he won the Best Actor award at the Las Palmas International Film Festival, in Spain. In May he had returned to Cannes, after ‘Parasites’; He was in the cast of two films that were presented at the French festival. His performance in ‘Parasites’ had won him the Screen Actors Guild award, alongside the entire cast. In 2021 he made his debut in the web series ‘Dr. Brain’, which is the first Korean show made for Apple TV+, and was nominated in the Best Actor category at the 2022 Emmys. His last film was ‘Killing Romance’ – the drug stories had already kept him from a film with prescient name, ‘No Way Out’. The consumption he is accused of took place in a bar in Gangnam, Seoul, and according to Reuters, one of the police interrogations lasted 19 hours. He also underwent two screening tests – a rapid reagent test carried out by the police and a laboratory test carried out by the National Forensic Service –, which cleared him. The hypothesis of being subjected to a lie detector was also raised, which his lawyer argued should also be applied to the employee who accused him. On social media, several people lamented the Kafkaesque contours of the case. Lawsuits like Lee Sun-kyun’s are common. Most are punished with sentences of up to five years in prison. South Korea prohibits any type of narcotic drug considered illegal, such as cannabis, methamphetamine and cocaine, a legacy that dates back to the 1970s, even from the dictator Park Chung-hee, who said he was fighting the bad habit brought to the country by North soldiers. -Americans.The late actor’s agency issued a statement asking for reservation – if it is true that he consumed drugs, it was most likely cannabis and other psychotropic drugs.
Details
Zero tolerance
South Korean drug laws may apply to Korean citizens who consume drugs abroad. It is common for Korean students in Canada to be punished.
18,395 prisoners
In 2022 there were 18,395 drug-related arrests in South Korea (54.78 million inhabitants), which somewhat supports the zero tolerance policy.
Bribery
Last April, a gang was arrested who offered drinks containing methamphetamine to high school students, whom they then blackmailed, as well as their families.
Decriminalized but not legalized
In 2001, the Portuguese Government put an end to criminal sanctions for the use and possession of small quantities of drugs, as long as they were for personal consumption. In the case of drugs extracted from Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plants, Portuguese law penalizes any citizen who possesses more than 25 grams of marijuana or 5 grams of hashish as a crime. If the quantities are lower, the consumer will be notified for a Drug Addiction Dissuasion session. Five years ago, the law stipulated the conditions for the medicinal use of the substance.
On the Asian continent, the drama had been going on for months with media coverage, without the majority of those who applauded ‘Parasites’ in the West knowing. Now, with the world news about the actor’s presumed suicide, and according to the newspaper ‘The Guardian’, Lee Sun-kyun had even given a press conference in Seoul, in October, on the subject, where, saddened, said: “I sincerely apologize for causing great disappointment to many people by being involved in such an unpleasant incident.
2023-12-31 01:34:13
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