[theqoo] LEE SUN KYUN, PARK WON SOON, KIM MINHEE… “KOREA, DEMANDS TOO HIGH MORALS FOR PUBLIC FIGURES”

On the 14th (local time), the French daily news Liberation detailed the alleged drug use of Lee Sun Kyun, who gained global fame for the movie “Parasite,” the fact that he felt unfairly charged, and the media attention he received during each police investigation, even though he tested negative for drugs.

The media also reported that the investigation lasted 19 hours before Lee’s death, and that the Korean film industry condemned police and media pressure after his death.

“In the wake of his death, leading figures in the film industry, including Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, are calling for the enactment of a law to protect the human rights of artists in the name of the deceased,” the outlet said, adding, “The death has set off alarm bells for many.”

Earlier, Bong and other cultural figures centered on the film industry released a statement titled “Demands of Cultural Artists Facing the Death of the Late Actor Lee Sun Kyun,” calling for justice.

Noting that this has been building up for a long time in South Korean society, Liberation pointed to the deaths of K-pop star Moon Bin and singer Hae Soo last year, Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon in 2020, and former President Roh Moo-hyun 11 years before that.

“These events raise questions about the relationship between Korean society and celebrities,” the outlet said.

“It’s hard for the French to understand, but (in Korea) public figures have long had a responsibility to set an example for the public,” Sungkyunkwan University professor Antoine Coppola told Liberation.

“There is a kind of puritanism that everything that is public must conform to the social dogma (dogmatic beliefs, doctrines, theories, etc.),” he said.

Coppola’s explanation gives a sense of the level of disgrace that Lee must have felt as he was investigated for allegedly taking drugs and entering a brothel, Liberation reported.

The media outlet also said that the careers of many filmmakers, including Lee Sun Kyun, have been shattered by morality.

Liberation cited actress Kim Minhee as a prime example.

It pointed out that Kim Minhee rose to the top with Park Chan-wook’s “The Handmaiden,” but her affair with married director Hong Sang-soo cost her millions of dollars, and she has only acted in Hong’s films since.