Yea.. Thank you for sharing this and contributimg some (in my opinion) much needed critique of this. It is an unnecessary and preventable death. But as you note.. How did he have any other "choice"?. There was no other path because there is no redemption. What I see is at time great about korean culture is also it's Achilles heel. This is not unique to Korea, any country or any individual. What is an asset in one circumstance is a liability in another. And now... Another person is dead. And for what? The optics of it.
This is what I have been thinking about since this whole thing all began:
“I keep thinking about his wife and children,” Lieberthal Rho, LCSW, said. “They will continue to pay the price of not only what he was allegedly doing, but also how he died. So much pain and sorrow. And for what? What is the lesson? Don't do anything to bring shame to ‘us’"?
I hope Jeon Hye Jin and her sons find a way through.
The family will have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives. I hope the children, and his wife, will get mental health treatment to come to terms with what happened.
I was so saddened when I heard about Yoo Ah-in because I love his work and was looking forward to seeing him in Season 2 of Hellbound, but when I heard he had indeed tested positive for drugs, I knew that his career was all but over. It appears that there isn’t much of a road of redemption for Korean actors. I also love Lee Sun-kyung and My Mister is one of my favorite sad dramas. I know using drugs is wrong and bad and illegal, but why is society so quick to condemn and so slow to help? It’s not like they’re drug traffickers or drug mules Celebrities are human and not perfect... I think so many fans forget that. They can’t make a mistake or often even date in peace! It’s such a big price to pay for fame. I love the outputs of this industry but the way they sometimes treat their stars is disheartening.
Yoo Ah-in admitted using weed and nowhere did I accuse anyone one soliciting prostitutes. Nowhere did I cast blame on any of the actors, I sympathized with them for facing the backlash that they did. Please direct your anger elsewhere.
Thank you for these thoughts; it’s so helpful in making sense of something that’s basically senseless.
I can’t help comparing Korean celebrity culture to US celebrity culture. Even when marijuana was illegal, smoking pot and snorting anything wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in the US, let alone force an actor to withdraw from roles.
I also wonder about how aggressive this prosecution was. I assume that police and prosecutors have some discretion over these tactics. Was Lee Sun-Kyun being turned into a lesson for the public about how seriously they take drug laws? Because a 19 hour interrogation for marijuana seems all out of proportion even when the drug laws are strict.
I think if he hadn't been this famous, the interrogation wouldn't have been as intense.
As someone who has spent a lot of time with Western bands (covering them and their work), the things I have seen on the road and/or backstage were par for the course for them. But would've ended a Korean celeb's career (and possibly life). It's all so depressing.
I am gutted by the tragic loss of Lee Sun-kyun and cried for several hours last night. He was my "gateway" into the world of K-dramas in 2012 when I was recovering from cancer surgery and a flight attendant friend flying the SFO to Seoul route talked me into watching "Pasta". This led immediately to "Coffee Prince". Within two months I fell into K-pop and by mid-2013, when I found BTS, my life changed. With friends all over the world now and a few trips to South Korea (my father commanded Kunsan AFB), loving the culture of South Korea expanded and enhanced my life in incalculable ways. I went on to watch every single drama Lee Sun-kyun was in. "My Mister" is spectacular. Not only what G-Dragon went through recently, but Yoo Ah-in's case and several K-pop suicides over the past years, all indicate something is very wrong with the way South Korean culture judges the merit of an individual. I think about the torture Tablo went through from people who didn't believe he graduated from Stanford. Why does this unassailable image of perfection persist? And when the image of perfection is shattered, the individual is judged unworthy of even being alive? The fact that the Seoul police tormented Lee Sun-kyun for 19 hours (and I can't help but picture him and his glorious voice protesting that he was innocent and begging for a lie detector test) is devastating. That such a talented and beloved actor should fall from the heights of fame to believing he didn't even deserve to live is something beyond my Western comprehension. What can be done? Where does change start? It doesn't seem we are seeing any sort of progress in this regard. Thank you for your sensitive reporting on this. My heart is broken for his family and for South Korea at large. This didn't need to happen.
Thank you for sharing so much of your life. What happened with Lee Sun-kyun was nothing short of horrific. Because he is such a beloved actor and recognized internationally, I hope some good can come out of this tragedy, and that SK will make some needed changes.
I really loved him in My Mister. Such a sad ending.
Your story has also got me to understand why so many people from back home (ex-Yugoslavia) are very surface level and avoid vunrelability - while our celebrities are not very affect by it, regular folk are very much shamed by the community for any percieved moral mistakes.
(Tone: Somber) I mirror a lot of what has been said and the emotions that come along with it...Welcome To Samdal-ri is indeed a perfect example and Shin Hye-sun’s Cho Sam-dal gifts us an honest & mature example of how difficult it can be to “be the bigger person” in such an unbearably difficult scenario...one major difference (as far as I am privy to know) is she has a support system (albeit based in the intricate complexities that come along with the flip side of one of SK’s most important values “jeong”) that seemingly a number of celebrities do not have (admittedly this is a personal work experience-based opinion). As I observe the flooding of condolences to the family and gut wrenching grief the questions of “how can we do better?” & “why” this & that I find myself rather angry...(Tone: Genuinely curious) where was this Love & support when he was alive? Why are we consuming content that excludes context [aside: which you share with us so eloquently btw 🙏] & feeds gossip mongers...or better yet, is none of our business? Who declared “public opinion*” to be jury? ... does the mass majority still question that change starts with the self?...(Tone: Grateful) Thank you- as always for sharing your knowledge & wisdom, the comfort your words bring and the deep thoughts & reflections they inspire 🙏 not to mention, for indulging my words that are colored with shock & processing grief of the loss of a brilliant & talented creative being. 🖤
"Shame doesn't allow for a redemption arch." -to paraphrase a comment I read elsewhere. A society that disciplines through shame means no one within the specific set parameters of that "society" deserves compassion - how incredibly tragic that is. Especially as now it seems keyboard warriors are the arbiters of society's rules.
in germany some right folks hate marijuana too..till now its still a crime..those haters talking much dirt about it..so much violence against weedsmokers in germany too ..the fearmaking of punishment made even the smell of it dangerously scary.. made by some massmedia which wanting people to blindly obey cruelfully laws is so scizophrenic forcing ppl to lie or to get punished is not a psychical healthy invironment.. simple but not painfree to see and know how they making people scizophrenic with ideological motivated prohibitions..those are totally innocent people which did not hurt anyone but get punished for it..thats fascism..thats bad..thats sadism..forcing people to lie is paranoidingly scizophrenicating them/us..
A three-headed monster killed Lee Sun-kyun: the overly punitive Korean criminal justice system, the celebrity gossip/sasaeng culture that is worse than paparazzi in a lot of ways, and the anonymous netizen horde who don't actually care about morals and are more concerned with bullying a popular individual for whatever reason, all feeding into one another as one gigantic self-sustaining loop of disgusting behavior.
Tablo got off easy years ago compared to Lee Sun-kyun.
This article makes good points but also is accusatory. The author states he doesn't find LSK taking sleeping pills through a straw plausible and thinks he smoked pot, yet LSK was cleared of all charges and the drug tests came back negative. So why perpetuate these rumors when there is no proof.
What's missing from this article is the tremendous pressure on Korean talent. The work hours are insane, they are under intense scrutiny to be perfect and many have iron clad contracts that are unethical. In the US, any of the above would cause someone to look for some kind of stress relief.
As a long time fan or Korean dramas, I can no longer support this countries media after this senseless and tragic death. The world needs to collectively turn their back on South Korean popular culture until something changes to protect their actors and singers. That the fellow actors of LSK were also shunned when expressing their condolensces speaks volumes on how backwards and toxic this culture has become.
Yea.. Thank you for sharing this and contributimg some (in my opinion) much needed critique of this. It is an unnecessary and preventable death. But as you note.. How did he have any other "choice"?. There was no other path because there is no redemption. What I see is at time great about korean culture is also it's Achilles heel. This is not unique to Korea, any country or any individual. What is an asset in one circumstance is a liability in another. And now... Another person is dead. And for what? The optics of it.
So well said. Thank you.
It didn't have to be this way.
This is what I have been thinking about since this whole thing all began:
“I keep thinking about his wife and children,” Lieberthal Rho, LCSW, said. “They will continue to pay the price of not only what he was allegedly doing, but also how he died. So much pain and sorrow. And for what? What is the lesson? Don't do anything to bring shame to ‘us’"?
I hope Jeon Hye Jin and her sons find a way through.
The family will have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives. I hope the children, and his wife, will get mental health treatment to come to terms with what happened.
I was so saddened when I heard about Yoo Ah-in because I love his work and was looking forward to seeing him in Season 2 of Hellbound, but when I heard he had indeed tested positive for drugs, I knew that his career was all but over. It appears that there isn’t much of a road of redemption for Korean actors. I also love Lee Sun-kyung and My Mister is one of my favorite sad dramas. I know using drugs is wrong and bad and illegal, but why is society so quick to condemn and so slow to help? It’s not like they’re drug traffickers or drug mules Celebrities are human and not perfect... I think so many fans forget that. They can’t make a mistake or often even date in peace! It’s such a big price to pay for fame. I love the outputs of this industry but the way they sometimes treat their stars is disheartening.
They are held to a standard which is nearly impossible to maintain.
Kendra Griffith He DIDN'T TEST POSITIVE FOR DRUGS! Stop perpetuating rumors! There was NO proof he did drugs or solicted protitutes.
Yoo Ah-in admitted using weed and nowhere did I accuse anyone one soliciting prostitutes. Nowhere did I cast blame on any of the actors, I sympathized with them for facing the backlash that they did. Please direct your anger elsewhere.
Thank you for these thoughts; it’s so helpful in making sense of something that’s basically senseless.
I can’t help comparing Korean celebrity culture to US celebrity culture. Even when marijuana was illegal, smoking pot and snorting anything wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in the US, let alone force an actor to withdraw from roles.
I also wonder about how aggressive this prosecution was. I assume that police and prosecutors have some discretion over these tactics. Was Lee Sun-Kyun being turned into a lesson for the public about how seriously they take drug laws? Because a 19 hour interrogation for marijuana seems all out of proportion even when the drug laws are strict.
I think if he hadn't been this famous, the interrogation wouldn't have been as intense.
As someone who has spent a lot of time with Western bands (covering them and their work), the things I have seen on the road and/or backstage were par for the course for them. But would've ended a Korean celeb's career (and possibly life). It's all so depressing.
I can’t bring myself to hit the like button because it is so incredibly depressing, but thanks.
There was no proof he smoked weed. He tested negative. Stop perpetuating rumors please.
I am gutted by the tragic loss of Lee Sun-kyun and cried for several hours last night. He was my "gateway" into the world of K-dramas in 2012 when I was recovering from cancer surgery and a flight attendant friend flying the SFO to Seoul route talked me into watching "Pasta". This led immediately to "Coffee Prince". Within two months I fell into K-pop and by mid-2013, when I found BTS, my life changed. With friends all over the world now and a few trips to South Korea (my father commanded Kunsan AFB), loving the culture of South Korea expanded and enhanced my life in incalculable ways. I went on to watch every single drama Lee Sun-kyun was in. "My Mister" is spectacular. Not only what G-Dragon went through recently, but Yoo Ah-in's case and several K-pop suicides over the past years, all indicate something is very wrong with the way South Korean culture judges the merit of an individual. I think about the torture Tablo went through from people who didn't believe he graduated from Stanford. Why does this unassailable image of perfection persist? And when the image of perfection is shattered, the individual is judged unworthy of even being alive? The fact that the Seoul police tormented Lee Sun-kyun for 19 hours (and I can't help but picture him and his glorious voice protesting that he was innocent and begging for a lie detector test) is devastating. That such a talented and beloved actor should fall from the heights of fame to believing he didn't even deserve to live is something beyond my Western comprehension. What can be done? Where does change start? It doesn't seem we are seeing any sort of progress in this regard. Thank you for your sensitive reporting on this. My heart is broken for his family and for South Korea at large. This didn't need to happen.
Thank you for sharing so much of your life. What happened with Lee Sun-kyun was nothing short of horrific. Because he is such a beloved actor and recognized internationally, I hope some good can come out of this tragedy, and that SK will make some needed changes.
I really loved him in My Mister. Such a sad ending.
Your story has also got me to understand why so many people from back home (ex-Yugoslavia) are very surface level and avoid vunrelability - while our celebrities are not very affect by it, regular folk are very much shamed by the community for any percieved moral mistakes.
(Tone: Somber) I mirror a lot of what has been said and the emotions that come along with it...Welcome To Samdal-ri is indeed a perfect example and Shin Hye-sun’s Cho Sam-dal gifts us an honest & mature example of how difficult it can be to “be the bigger person” in such an unbearably difficult scenario...one major difference (as far as I am privy to know) is she has a support system (albeit based in the intricate complexities that come along with the flip side of one of SK’s most important values “jeong”) that seemingly a number of celebrities do not have (admittedly this is a personal work experience-based opinion). As I observe the flooding of condolences to the family and gut wrenching grief the questions of “how can we do better?” & “why” this & that I find myself rather angry...(Tone: Genuinely curious) where was this Love & support when he was alive? Why are we consuming content that excludes context [aside: which you share with us so eloquently btw 🙏] & feeds gossip mongers...or better yet, is none of our business? Who declared “public opinion*” to be jury? ... does the mass majority still question that change starts with the self?...(Tone: Grateful) Thank you- as always for sharing your knowledge & wisdom, the comfort your words bring and the deep thoughts & reflections they inspire 🙏 not to mention, for indulging my words that are colored with shock & processing grief of the loss of a brilliant & talented creative being. 🖤
"Shame doesn't allow for a redemption arch." -to paraphrase a comment I read elsewhere. A society that disciplines through shame means no one within the specific set parameters of that "society" deserves compassion - how incredibly tragic that is. Especially as now it seems keyboard warriors are the arbiters of society's rules.
in germany some right folks hate marijuana too..till now its still a crime..those haters talking much dirt about it..so much violence against weedsmokers in germany too ..the fearmaking of punishment made even the smell of it dangerously scary.. made by some massmedia which wanting people to blindly obey cruelfully laws is so scizophrenic forcing ppl to lie or to get punished is not a psychical healthy invironment.. simple but not painfree to see and know how they making people scizophrenic with ideological motivated prohibitions..those are totally innocent people which did not hurt anyone but get punished for it..thats fascism..thats bad..thats sadism..forcing people to lie is paranoidingly scizophrenicating them/us..
parasitism destroys everyone.. respect mr.park!..
A three-headed monster killed Lee Sun-kyun: the overly punitive Korean criminal justice system, the celebrity gossip/sasaeng culture that is worse than paparazzi in a lot of ways, and the anonymous netizen horde who don't actually care about morals and are more concerned with bullying a popular individual for whatever reason, all feeding into one another as one gigantic self-sustaining loop of disgusting behavior.
Tablo got off easy years ago compared to Lee Sun-kyun.
Tragic.
This article makes good points but also is accusatory. The author states he doesn't find LSK taking sleeping pills through a straw plausible and thinks he smoked pot, yet LSK was cleared of all charges and the drug tests came back negative. So why perpetuate these rumors when there is no proof.
What's missing from this article is the tremendous pressure on Korean talent. The work hours are insane, they are under intense scrutiny to be perfect and many have iron clad contracts that are unethical. In the US, any of the above would cause someone to look for some kind of stress relief.
As a long time fan or Korean dramas, I can no longer support this countries media after this senseless and tragic death. The world needs to collectively turn their back on South Korean popular culture until something changes to protect their actors and singers. That the fellow actors of LSK were also shunned when expressing their condolensces speaks volumes on how backwards and toxic this culture has become.