What Happened to a Coffee Shop Owner and Movie Star
About the tragic passing of a ‘Parasite’ actor
안녕, it's Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder. It's heartbreaking to learn about the passing of Lee Sun-kyun, a great actor who starred in “Parasite.” Today, I'd like to share the Korean perspective on his death, why it's much more than just an unfortunate event, and why many people are so devastated and angry.
Before we get started, I'd like to give you my New Year wishes. Happy New Year! Or 새해 복 많이 받으세요! May 2024 bring you joy, success, and wonderful experiences.
What Happened to a Coffee Shop Owner and Movie Star
In May, a coffee shop owner in his 50s was arrested for drug trafficking. When police raided his shop, they found a box containing 90 grams of philopon, and a text message on his phone read, “I sent you what you asked for.” He spent three months in jail, but then he was dramatically released after an informant of the National Intelligence Service was arrested. It turned out that the owner was innocent, and everything was a setup. How could this happen?
In October 2022, the President and the Minister of Justice declared “war against drugs.” Since then, police and prosecutors have been conducting massive arrest operations against drug offenders. According to a report, an NIS agent wanted a drug crime case for his work achievement. The informant, who was close to the agent, set up the innocent coffee shop owner. The informant, also a former drug offender, ordered philopon from a dealer in the Philippines and had it delivered to the coffee shop owner. It was the NIS who tipped the police to raid the coffee shop. Also, the informant ordered to send the text message seemingly to ensure the coffee shop owner was found guilty, ultimately serving as a clear achievement for the NIS.
Even after the owner was proven innocent, the prosecutors didn’t drop his case. During this time, he had to stay in jail and go through a trial in court. The prosecutors only dropped the case when the media started reporting the story. The coffee shop owner was not the only one who got framed. Another innocent ‘drug offender’ spent 30 days in jail, according to a report.
Before Lee Sun-kyun, a 48-year-old Korean actor known for "My Mister" and "Parasite," took his life on Wednesday, he was under police investigation for alleged drug abuse. The police initiated the investigation solely based on words from an informant.
In his initial rapid drug test, Lee tested negative. Subsequently, in a more extensive second and third test, he tested negative again. Lastly, the police conducted a fourth test, asserting that the amount of hair used in the previous test was insufficient. Nevertheless, he tested negative once more. And then, Korean media started reporting about the possibility of new drugs that can’t be detected in the tests along with gossips about his private life.
Even after testing negative in all the tests, the police summoned him and conducted a 19-hour overnight interrogation. It was three days before he was found dead at a park in Seoul.
Korean prosecutors are known for their distinctive investigative style. In Korea, prosecutors are responsible for both conducting investigations and prosecuting cases. And, police are often under the command of prosecutors. Their style can be summarized as “prosecute first and find the evidence later.” Once they set the target, they don’t stop till they find the dirt. For example, one politician has been searched and seized 376 times for 2 years of investigation. And when they fail to find the dirt, they often cooperate with the media to disgrace and humiliate the target. In 2019, a government official was prosecuted, and all of his private life was exposed, including text messages between family members and even his daughter's high school student record card.
Prosecutors, police, and the media, in unison, push the targets to the limits, as a result, some of them end up taking their own lives. And when they do, they are quickly portrayed as offenders who took their lives out of guilt. Korean media called Lee the one who “charged with drug abuse (마약 혐의),” rather than “actor (배우)” in their headlines when reporting his death with photos of him entering police station. 👆🤬
For Koreans, the stories of the coffee shop owner, politician, government official, and the movie star are solemn warnings that anyone can be the target unless we do something to stop the tragedy.
My rage goes out to those who are responsible for his death, and my deepest condolences go out to his family members. May you rest in peace, my Mister. 편안함에 이르렀기를.
Thanks for reading. If you liked my newsletter, buy me a coffee to support my work. It’ll help me keep writing. I'll be back the week after next. See you in 2024. 안녕!
Thank you for covering such an important story. I hope it never happens again, and I feel for his family. No one deserves this. 편안함에 이르렀기를.
The financing of the Korean government needs to be taken away from so they can't target people. The Korean government needs to be separated from money. Bitcoin separates money from evil government people.