Actor Lee of Oscar-winning 'Parasite' found dead amid drugs probe - Yahoo! Voices

By Hyonhee Shin and Soo-hyang Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) -Lee Sun-kyun, a South Korean actor who drew global attention with his performance as the wealthy patriarch in the Oscar-winning film "Parasite", was found dead on Wednesday in an apparent suicide in a Seoul park, officials in the capital said.

Lee, 48, who met a gory end in the 2019 film, South Korea's first to win any Oscar, had faced police questioning three times over accusations of illegal drug use amid a government crackdown, with one session running 19 hours over the weekend.

The actor had said he was tricked into taking drugs by a bar hostess trying to blackmail him, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Authorities found Lee in a search triggered by a missing person report, a fire official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the matter is a sensitive one.

Lee was found in a car at a park in Seoul, after his manager told police the actor had left home, leaving behind an apparent suicide note, a police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Lee's agency, HODU&U Entertainment, did not respond to calls.

However, domestic media cited a statement by the agency that expressed sadness at the death, while urging restraint regarding false information, speculation, or malicious reports.

Infringements of South Korea's tough drug laws can lead to six months in jail, or up to 14 years for repeat offenders and dealers.

A dark-comedy thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite” won the Academy Award in 2020 in the four categories of best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film, off six Oscar nominations.

The film became the first non-English language movie to win the best picture award. Bong hailed its popularity as a sign that the "one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles" was no longer a stumbling block to global success.

In the film, Lee played the character of Mr Park, whose affluent home is infiltrated by members of a lower-class family posing as highly qualified domestic workers in a tangled scheme that ends in violence.

Lee, born in 1975, had leading roles in South Korean films such as the 2012 thriller "Helpless" and 2014's "All About My Wife", as well as the acclaimed 2018 TV series "My Mister".

He played the lead in Apple TV+'s first Korean-language original series, rolled out in 2021.

A six-episode sci-fi thriller, "Dr. Brain" featured a cold-hearted neurologist hunting for clues to a mysterious family accident through brain experiments.

Lee's wife is award-winning actress Jeon Hye-jin, and the couple had two children.

(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi, Josh Smith, and Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Minwoo Park and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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2023-12-27 05:38:00Z
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Parasite actor Lee Sun-kyun found dead amid drug allegations - Channel NewsAsia

Authorities found Lee in a search triggered by the report that he was missing, the fire official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, as the matter is a sensitive one.

Earlier, citing police, Yonhap said Lee was found in a car at a park in Seoul, after his manager told police the actor had left home, leaving an apparent suicide note. The news agency had also earlier reported that he was found unconscious next to charcoal briquettes inside the vehicle.

Officials at Seoul's Jongno and Seongbuk police stations did not immediately respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment.

Lee's agency, HODU&U Entertainment, also did not respond to calls.

Infringements of South Korea's tough drug laws can lead to six months in jail, or up to 14 years for repeat offenders and dealers.

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2023-12-27 03:02:00Z
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Gaza war to last months, Israel says, as fears of conflict spread rise - The Straits Times

CAIRO/GAZA/JERUSALEM - Israel’s war on Hamas will last for months, Israel’s military chief said, as a string of incidents outside the Gaza Strip highlighted the risk of the conflict spreading.

Israel’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters in a televised statement on Dec 26 the Gaza border that the war would go on “for many months”.

“There are no magic solutions, there are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organization, only determined and persistent fighting,” Mr Halevi said. “We will reach Hamas’ leadership too, whether it takes a week or if it takes months.”

Israeli actions intensified around Christmas, particularly in a central area just south of the seasonal waterway that bisects the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army told civilians to leave the area, though many said there was no safe place left to go.

“We are gravely concerned about the continued bombardment of Middle Gaza by Israeli forces, which has claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Christmas Eve,” said UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango.

“Israeli forces must take all measures available to protect civilians. Warnings and evacuation orders do not absolve them of the full range of their international humanitarian law obligations.”

Israel is determined to destroy Hamas despite global calls for a ceasefire in the 11-week-old war.

Since Hamas killed 1,200 people and captured 240 hostages on Oct 7 in the deadliest day in Israeli history, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded with an assault that has laid much of Hamas-ruled Gaza to waste.

Palestinian health authorities said nearly 21,000 people had been killed in Israeli strikes, with thousands more feared buried under rubble. Nearly all of the enclave’s 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, many several times.

Gaza authorities buried 80 unidentified Palestinians on Dec 26 whose bodies were handed over by Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, the health ministry said.

According to the Islamic Waqf, or religious affairs ministry, the bodies were collected from the northern part of the Gaza Strip. They were buried in a long ditch at a Rafah cemetery in the south.

“Pictures are being taken to identify them later,” a representative of the Gaza Islamic Waqf said during the burials.

Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, and blames Hamas for putting them in harm’s way by operating among them, which Hamas denies.

But even Israel’s closest ally the United States has said it should do more to reduce civilian deaths from what President Joe Biden has called “indiscriminate bombing”.

Spread threat

There are growing signs the conflict is starting to spread.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Dec 26 on a container ship in the Red Sea and for an attempt to attack Israel with drones.

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2023-12-26 23:41:51Z
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Indonesia presidential candidate Prabowo cements lead in the polls - CNA

JAKARTA: Indonesian defence minister and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto cemented his lead in the polls after candidates took part in televised debates ahead of the looming Feb 14 election.

A Dec 23 to Dec 24 poll released by Indikator Politik Indonesia on Tuesday showed that Prabowo, who is running with President Joko Widodo's 36-year-old son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, would secure 46.7 per cent of the vote.

Indikator placed former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo as his closest opponent, with 24.5 per cent of the vote, while former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan had the support of 21 per cent of those polled.

A poll by Kompas this month gave Prabowo 39.3 per cent of the vote and placed Anies as his closest opponent with 16.7 per cent, followed by Ganjar at 15.3 per cent.

Indikator's survey was conducted after televised debates between the presidential candidates on Dec 12 and candidates for vice president on Dec 22.

A decision by the country's constitutional court this October paved the way for Gibran to run in the elections, raising widespread concern about the deepening of dynastic politics in the world's third-largest democracy.

During the televised debate Gibran defended his father's economic agenda, especially development of the new capital city.

Three more debates are expected before the election.

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2023-12-26 11:13:00Z
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Philippines is not provoking conflict in South China Sea, its military says - CNA

MANILA: The Philippines is not provoking conflict in the South China Sea, its military spokesperson said on Tuesday (Dec 26), responding to China's accusation that Manila was encroaching on Beijing's territory.

It was the latest salvo amid rising tension as the two have traded accusations in recent months over a series of maritime run-ins, including China allegedly ramming a ship this month carrying the Philippines' military chief.

"The Philippines is not provoking conflict," Medel Aguilar told state broadcaster PTV.

"We follow international law and we are only implementing our domestic law, meaning the limits of our territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, where we have sovereign rights."

The comments came a day after the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote that the Philippines had relied on US support to continually provoke China.

This "extremely dangerous" behaviour seriously harmed regional peace and stability, it added.

Aguilar said Philippine activities would not put vessels and seafarers in danger, instead accusing China of carrying out dangerous manoeuvres that sometimes result in collisions at sea.

"They are the ones committing all the violations," he added.

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2023-12-26 09:17:49Z
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Netanyahu vows no let-up in war against Hamas; over 100 killed in overnight Israel air strikes - The Straits Times

In Gaza, Hamas and smaller militant ally Islamic Jihad, both sworn to Israel’s destruction, are believed to be holding more than 100 hostages from among 240 they captured during their Oct 7 rampage through Israeli towns, when they killed 1,200 people.

Since then, Israel has laid much of the narrow strip to waste. Nearly 20,700 Gazans have been killed, including 250 in the last 24 hours, according to the authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million population have been driven from their homes, and the United Nations says humanitarian conditions are catastrophic.

The Israeli military said on Monday two of its soldiers had died in the last day, bringing to 158 the number killed since ground operations began on Oct 20.

Separately, three security sources said an Israeli air strike outside the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday killed a senior adviser in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The sources said the adviser, known as Mr Sayyed Razi Mousavi, was responsible for coordinating the military alliance between Syria and Iran, which supports Hamas in Gaza.

The Revolutionary Guards, in a statement read on Iranian state television, said Israel “will pay for this crime”.

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2023-12-25 22:53:34Z
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Hanging Christmas tree falls on Singaporean tourist's head in Kuala Lumpur mall - The Straits Times

PETALING JAYA - A Singaporean’s Christmas celebration turned awry when he got injured from a hanging decorative Christmas tree that fell on his head from the ceiling of a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur.

Mr Julius Lee, 44, was taking pictures of his wife Aileen Tan and their child in Pavilion KL when the incident happened.

“My husband was standing outside the merry-go-round to take our picture when suddenly, a Christmas tree fell on him.

“It happened so fast. Thankfully, my child was with me. The Christmas tree would’ve hit my child if she was in the stroller,” she said, according to Sinar Harian.

Ms Tan, 39, said her husband, who suffered a bruise on his head, was rushed to the clinic by the mall’s management.

She said they arrived in Malaysia on Dec 20 with their three-year-old daughter to celebrate Christmas.

The fallen Christmas tree was promptly removed, and the area was secured by mall security and management.

In a statement, Pavilion KL expressed regret over the incident.

“Our medical and safety team promptly responded, accompanying the shopper to the nearest clinic for immediate medical attention. The shopper had a minor graze and appreciated the prompt action from the management,” it said.

It added that all decorations will be thoroughly checked. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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2023-12-25 13:10:00Z
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