French newspaper mentions Lee Sun-kyun’s death “Korean society demands high morality from public figures”

Libération referred to Lee Sun-kyun as the “actor who gained worldwide fame through the movie ‘Parasite‘”. The article detailed how he became the focus of media coverage during police investigations.

In particular, Libération also mentioned the 3rd investigation that lasted for 19 hours and said, “As a result of his death, major figures in the film industry, including director Bong Joon-ho of ‘Parasite’, are urging for the enactment of laws to protect the human rights of artists in his name. His death is sounding an alarm to many.”

Libération pointed out that such incidents have been accumulating in Korean society for a long time, mentioning other figures like Moonbin and Hae Soo, who passed away last year.

Professor Antoine Coppola, who teaches French cinema at Sungkyunkwan University, stated through Libération, “It may be difficult for the French to understand, but in Korea, public figures have had a duty to demonstrate morality for a long time. There is a kind of puritanism that everything public must conform to social dogma.”

The article also mentioned the case of actress Kim Min-hee, who, after having an extramarital affair with married director Hong Sang-soo, known for his film “The Handmaiden”, has been acting only in Hong Sang-soo’s films despite previously achieving high acclaim.

Lee Sun-kyun, who had been under police investigation for drug use allegations since October last year, passed away on Dec 27th last year.

On Jan 12th, the Association of Cultural Artists (tentative name) released a statement titled “Demands of cultural artists facing the death of the late actor Lee Sun-kyun”.

Source: Nate