It is the evil of global recognition and humiliation. It also left a record stain on works that have become proud to remain in the history of Korean films.
Actor Lee Sun-kyun (48) has been criminally booked and is set to be summoned for questioning on charges such as Hyang-jeong under the Narcotics Control Act, adding to the bitterness as various global foreign media, including Asia, are reporting Lee Sun-kyun’s situation day after day.
As an internal investigator involved in drugs, who was originally referred to as “Top Actor L,” was identified as Lee Sun-kyun through the agency’s official position on the 20th, foreign media announced in unison that “Lee Sun-kyun is being investigated by the police for being involved in drug charges” under the title “Parasite actor who swept the Oscars, drug involvement.”
Foreign media, including leading U.S. entertainment media Variety and Hollywood Reporter, ABS-CBN, Forbes, and others, expressed interest by covering Lee Sun-kyun’s internal investigation, criminal charges, and dropping out of the drama “No Way Out.” In most reports, the title of the movie “PARASITE” ran like a modifier in front of Lee Sun-kyun’s name, eventually causing damage to the work.
While the police are investigating the alleged drug use of actor Lee Sun-kyun (48), the entertainment bar Lee attended was operated as a “membership system” that can only be used by a small number of people. Furthermore, the outline of the characters who are under investigation (internal investigation) before being booked with Lee is being revealed one by one.
According to the police on the 25th, the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency’s drug crime investigation team booked Lee on charges of cannabis and entertainment under the law on drug management by administering a number of drugs, including cannabis, at the home of C (29, female), the head of the entertainment business, in Seoul since the beginning of this year.
It turned out that the incident was triggered during the intelligence check on the so-called “membership (membership) room salon” in Gangnam, Seoul. In the middle of last month, the police secured clues regarding actor Lee in the process of confirming the informant’s intelligence that “drug was distributed at an entertainment bar in Gangnam, Seoul.” The entertainment establishment in question, which Lee is known to have visited, is a member-based room salon operated for high-.
Police are investigating Lee and other broadcaster-turned-composer A in his 30s, who is suspected of taking drugs, before being booked. The pre-custodial investigation is a procedure to check whether it is subject to investigation at the pre-official stage of the investigation. However, only his name was mentioned in the intelligence, but the suspicion of drug administration has not yet been revealed in detail.
A was a close acquaintance with B, an aspiring singer under internal investigation for the same charges. He first appeared on an entertainment show in 2009 and made headlines for his resemblance to a famous movie star.
Mr. A had been sentenced to prison for taking drugs before this incident. In 2016 and 2021, he was sentenced to a series of prison sentences for drug administration and served time in prison. It has been found that he is still undergoing an internal police investigation while being arrested again on charges of taking methamphetamine.
B, an aspiring singer, is also a person with a history of smoking cannabis or administering methamphetamine several times and is currently in prison.
In addition to actor Lee, who changed his status to a suspect the previous day, the police plan to investigate the suspicions of the remaining five guests, including A and the third generation of the chaebol family. The police plan to conduct a reagent test against Lee soon to determine the type of drug Lee took and the number of doses.
Earlier, the police arrested C, the head of the business, on charges of entertainment under the Narcotics Control Act, arrested him last week, and booked a female employee in his 20s who worked at the same entertainment establishment without detention.
A simple test to check whether C took drugs was reported to have produced a large amount of psychotropic drugs. C is also accused of threatening Lee and ripping off 350 million won in this drug case.
A police official said, “We cannot reveal details, but we booked (Lee) because there is some evidence (to prove the allegation),” and added, “We will summon Lee as soon as possible to confirm the charges while conducting an investigation on the victims.”
Starting with the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019, director Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” won 10 million films after its domestic release, and swept four awards, including best picture, best screenplay, and international feature film, marking a new milestone in global film history.
As a result, the global recognition of Lee Sun-kyun, the main character of Parasite, has naturally increased, and the Hollywood Reporter said, “Lee Sun-kyun, who won the American Actors Guild Award for ‘Parasite’, was involved in drugs. In addition to “Parasite,” Lee Sun-kyun is an actor who has received great love in Korea for a number of works. However, I dropped out of the next movie, and the release of other movies will be delayed,” he wrote in detail.
He also highlighted the recent drug scandal in the Korean entertainment industry, mentioning the infant situation. The Hollywood Reporter said, “Yoo Ah-in, who appeared in the Cannes Film Festival’s invited film ‘Burning’ and Netflix’s popular film ‘Hell,’ is also under investigation for drug charges. The number of drug crimes in the Korean entertainment industry is soaring,” he was worried.
Asia’s interest is also a must. Japan’s Yahoo made headlines on the front page of the entertainment page, saying, “Korean police are booked on charges of drugs by big-name actor Lee Sun-kyun,” while major media outlets such as Chinese poetry and entertainment also introduced Lee Sun-kyun’s accumulated history over the past 20 years and published the story, “The Korean entertainment industry is shocked once again.”
The important thing is that Lee Sun-kyun has yet to be summoned by the police. The 20-year-old meritorious tower built as an actor collapsed due to charges and various additional reports from the internal investigation stage, and the image loss became irreparable. At a time when K-Content is attracting more attention than ever, rumors that have spread globally, not limited to Korea, added embarrassment.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
