On the February 18 broadcast of MBC’s current affairs and culture program “Son Seok-hee’s Questions,” Bong Joon-ho appeared as a guest.
When Lee Sun-kyun’s name was mentioned, Bong let out a deep sigh, revealing his heartfelt emotions. “He was someone I worked with, and many memories come rushing back,” he said. “No matter what anyone says, he was a good person. He was a great actor.”
Bong also addressed his delayed public statement regarding Lee’s situation. “As a colleague who had worked with him, issuing a statement was the right thing to do,” he said. However, he confessed, “At the same time, I feel ashamed and regretful that I didn’t speak up sooner. I keep asking myself Why couldn’t I have done it earlier, before such a tragic situation unfolded?” Overcome with emotion, Bong shed tears, leaving viewers deeply moved.
Bong Spoke Up For Lee
On Jan 18th, the Association of Cultural Artists delivered the “Demands of cultural artists facing the death of the late actor Lee Sun-kyun” statement to the National Police Agency, KBS and the National Assembly.
According to the association, the statement was delivered by Ko Young-jae, the head of the Association of Korean Independent Film & Video, Jung Sang-jin, the head of the Association of Korean Buyers & Distributors of Foreign Films, Choi Jeong-hwa, the head of the Producers Guild of Korea, and Jang Won-seok, CEO of BA Entertainment.
In the statement, the association urged a thorough investigation into the process of how Lee Sun-kyun’s drug investigation was conducted, requested the media to clarify the process of reporting the investigation and delete articles that do not meet the purpose of reporting, as well as demanded the revision of current laws to protect the human rights of cultural artists.
Earlier, on Jan 12th, the association held a press conference at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul to announce the statement. At that time, figures such as Director Bong Joon-ho and singer Yoon Jong-shin participated, strongly criticizing investigative agencies and the media.
Director Bong said, “Please clarify whether the disclosures of the information of the deceased’s attendance in all three summons procedures were within the legal boundaries and whether any measures were taken to prevent the exposure of the deceased to the public on the day of the summons.”
Yoon Jong-shin stated that it is inappropriate for the media to violate personal privacy of the deceased just because he was a public figure. He expressed the hope for the speedy deletion of article content that does not fit the purpose of public interest reporting.
In the future, the association plans to formally establish an organization to fulfill the demands specified in the statement and make multifaceted efforts to protect the human rights of cultural and artistic figures to prevent such incidents from occurring again.
After the press conference, the Korean Association of Film Critics also expressed its intention to participate.
As of Jan 17th, a total of 2,831 cultural and artistic figures, including director Park Chan-wook, actors Youn Yuh-jung, Song Kang-ho, Ryu Seung-ryong, Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-sung and Kim Nam-gil, joined the joint statement.
Source: Wikitree