'Parasite' director calls for a thorough probe into the death of actor Lee Sun-kyun

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Oscar-winning “ Parasite ” director Bong Joon-ho and other artists in South Korea have called for a thorough investigation into the death of popular actor Lee Sun-kyun, who played the head of a wealthy family in the class satire movie.

Lee, 48, was found dead in his car on Dec. 27 in what is widely seen as a suicide following an intense weekslong police investigation into his alleged drug use.

In a nationally televised news conference on Friday, Bong and other artists, writers, performers and producers questioned why police repeatedly summoned Lee in the presence of TV cameras and whether they had inappropriately leaked information about the investigation to media. They also questioned whether media outlets had overly sensationalized reports about Lee’s private life that were unrelated to the drug investigation.

“We urge relevant officials to fully investigate whether there were any problems with the security of (the information) in the police investigation,” they said in a statement.