‘Parasite’ director, South Korean artists urge probe into dealing with of actor case

A gaggle of South Korean filmmakers, actors and trade officers, together with “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho, on Friday referred to as for a probe into the dealing with by police and media of drug abuse allegations involving late actor Lee Sun-kyun.

Lee, who shot to international fame along with his efficiency as the rich patriarch within the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, was discovered useless final month.

Bong and greater than a dozen different movie, music and leisure trade figures held a news convention in Seoul, urging authorities to look into whether or not police dealt with Lee’s case with out violating safety and privateness guidelines.

Since his case was first reported by a neighborhood newspaper citing a police official, Lee suffered assaults on his status on account of fixed leaks in regards to the investigation even after a number of drug checks turned damaging, they stated.

They additionally denounced “sensational” protection by some news retailers and YouTubers specializing in Lee’s non-public life utilizing unverified data, calling it “yellow journalism”.

“We call for a fact-finding probe into whether there were any security problems regarding the police investigation,” Bong stated, studying an announcement signed by greater than 2,000 artists and 29 trade associations.

“We’re asking the press and media,” singer-songwriter Yoon Jong-shin stated, “Wasn’t your coverage sensational highlighting someone’s private life just because he was a pop culture artist?”

Calls to Incheon police which investigated Lee went unanswered. Its chief has denied violating safety guidelines whereas expressing remorse over his dying.

Lee’s dying rekindled criticism from the leisure trade and the general public over the usually harsh and public nature of any legal investigations involving celebrities which fuelled media protection and strain on them.

Yoon singled out a report by public broadcaster KBS utilizing a recording of Lee’s telephone name with a bar hostess, questioning if it was meant to serve individuals’s proper to know and demanding or not it’s deleted.

KBS didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Lee made three extremely public appearances earlier than police between October and December, the final time for 19 hours in a single day.

He had denied knowingly taking unlawful medicine and stated he was tricked by the bar hostess who later blackmailed him, native news media reported earlier than his dying.