A South Korean actor and singer, Park Yong Ha, 33, was found dead in his room by his mother after he apparently hanged himself with an electrical cord at his Nonhyun-dong, Seoul, home on Wednesday morning of June 30.
The evening prior to his death, on the 29th, Park missed a meeting with drama producers for his upcoming project "Love Song - Drama".
His manager could not contact him and producers of "Love Song - Drama" are “in panic mode” because Park’s passing leaves them without a lead.
Park, after having debuted 15 years ago in youth shows like KBS’s 1995 "Love Blossoms in the Classroom" and 1996's "Start", he shot to fame with 2002’s "Winter Sonata", which made him a household name and a “Hallyu star” (Korean Wave Star).
He rode the wave of Korean pop culture in Asia and won fans in Japan and other Asian countries. Thus, he used that fame as a springboard to a singing career in Japan and releasing albums, where he enjoyed quite a lot of popularity.
He had a successful drama hit in 2008's "One Air", and totally stole viewers' heart in 2009’s.
Most recently, he had been chosen for the leading role in a Korean television drama, a remake of the high-profile popular 1996 Hong Kong film, "Comrades, Almost a Love Story" and shooting was set to begin in July.
Park Yong-ha was cast alongside Yoon Eun-hye.
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KBS said Park spent his last moments on Tuesday night with his father, who is suffering from cancer.
Around 12:40 am, he was with his father, massaging his father’s legs for a long while before leaving with the words: 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'
He then went into his room, where he was reportedly died from hanging, found by his mother in his room with a cell phone cord around his neck in the morning.
One producer said that they had seen Park occasionally in a down mood, but attributed it to news of Park’s father who recently moved back home from the hospital after his stomach cancer was deemed late-stage.
A friend who met him a few months ago, had seen the depression in him and his father’s illness made things worse.
Park had said in an interview that he suffered from depression, which was exacerbated by prolonged promotional activities abroad.
In an interview last year while promoting his movie "The Scam" Park said that he had been suffering from insomnia for the past 10 years.
He is rather sensitive that if something bothers him, he will not be able to sleep until it is resolved and is envious of people who can sleep well.
Sleep is needed for him, for good mental health.
The parade of celebrity visits had begun, with stars coming to pay their respects to Park, whose body was transferred to a Kangnam hospital.
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The actor's co-star, currently acting in "Coffee House", is reportedly to be so distraught to receive a “huge shock” from the news and “is in very bad condition.”
There’s concern she won’t be able to continue filming as she had just spoke with him on the phone the night before and he sounded normal.
He even had made plans to meet friends later in the day.
One of his last call was reportedly with DBSK’s Hero Jaejoong (above right), who is currently recording in the U.S. with whom he’d grown closer.
He gave the latter advice about pursuing singer activities in Japan and they had agreed to have a drink together when Jaejoong he is back to Korea.
Park’s last twitter message was posted Saturday the 26th and was about the World Cup.
“We lost. But they did well. clap clap clap~ Everyone, let’s clap with warm hears for our national soccer team, who return with heavy steps. Good job!!”
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If confirmed of suicide, Park would be the latest of a number of entertainers to kill themselves.
His passing is a reminder of the recent string of celebrity suicides, from the deaths of actresses Lee Eun-ju in 2005 and Jeong Da-bin in 2007 to that of actor Ahn Jae-hwan in 2008 and “Boys Over Flowers” actress Jang Ja-yeon in 2009.
Top movie actor Choi Jin-young’s suicide was in March, nearly two years after his sister, actress, Choi Jin-sil, committed suicide in 2008.
Choi Jin Shil rose to fame with a TV commercial, appearing as a newly wedded bride.
Her cute and smart image in the commercial was an instant success.
She soon became a a household name and her popularity was widely considered due to her friendly and approachable demeanour rather than the statuesque looks of her contemporaries.
Her popularity made her a South Korean actress appearing in various soap operas and movies, whether comical or sad, in most part were characters the audience could easily relate to.
They were all successful, notably 1990 "My Love My Bride" and 1992 "Jealousy and Promise".
Her growing popularity opened up her past history of poverty stricken teenage years became known to the public and this added to her popularity as a success story of hard work coming to fruition.
Her personal image along with the roles she played won her the title ‘People’s star’.
Her popularity stumbled twice during her career.
In 1994, her manager Bae Byung Soo was stabbed to death by her driver and the second was her divorce to the baseball player Cho Sung Min in September 2004.
Both times she made her way into the hearts of her fans by giving fervent performances in her roles. 1997 "You and I" and 2005 "My Rosy Life".
In her last TV drama 2008, coincidentally titled, "Last Scandal", she played the character of a divorcee who wins the hearts of 2 handsome successful brothers and eventually marries one of them.
The show was a huge success and a new word ‘Joomarella’, a combination of the words ajooma (middle aged woman) and Cinderella came to popular use to describe a divorcee who regains love and a happy life.
Pressure was mounting on her to be always at the top of stardom and the confidence in her as a single mother.
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In late September 2008, actor Ahn Jae Hwan, one of her best friend’s husband, committed suicide due to failing business and high volume of debt and Choi was rumoured to have lent a large sum of money to Ahn which spread rapidly through online reports and blogs.
It was a shock to Choi. The police reported the rumour to be false.
On the day of Choi’s death, all 3 major TV stations spent a third of their news hour on covering the story.
4 days after her death, a representative at the National Assembly suggested a new law to prevent ‘cyber-insulting’ which for a short period had the nick name of ‘Choi Jin Shil Law’.
Choi Jin Shil committed suicide October 2, 2008 at the age of 39.
Although there have been reports of Choi’s suffering from depression since her divorce with Cho, this rumour was favoured and as the key factor leading up to her suicide.
After the actress-sister, Choi Jin-shil's suicide, Korean actor Choi Jin-young, 39, was found dead on March 29 in an apparent suicide too.
The actor was battling depression and sunk into a prolonged spell following his sister’s death.
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Lee Eun-ju, who was born on 22 December 1980, studied piano for much of her youth, but found work as a model.
Later, she was offered roles in various TV dramas.
Her first film debut was in 1999 "Rainbow Trout". Her first lead role 2000 "Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors", where she gave one of the most memorable performances in all Hong Kong films.
However, her later career was a flop at the box-office, plus a key role in the record-breaking Korean War film "Taeguki".
In late 2004 "The Scarlett Letter" in which this was to be her final role, it was screened as the Closing Film at the 2004 Pusan International Film Festival.
Tragically Lee Eun-ju committed suicide on 22 February 2005 at her apartment in Bundang, Seongnam, a few days after her graduation from Dankook University.
She had been suffering from depression for a year and had sought treatment at a hospital but her family blamed the suicide on severe bouts of depression, mental illness and insomia due to the nude scene she had done in "The Scarlet Letter".
She had apparently tried to slit her wrist before hanging herself.
She left a suicide note scrawled in blood, in which she wrote, "Mom, I am sorry and I love you."
A separate note said, "I wanted to do too much. Even though I live, I'm not really alive. I don't want anyone to be disappointed. It's nice having money... I wanted to make money."
The news of her death prompted a massive outpouring grief of fellow actors and filmmakers.
She is remembered for her talent, intelligence and passion that made her stand out among the actress of her generations.
Hundreds of her fellow actors and entertainers attended her funeral.
Lee Eun-ju's friends and colleagues have held memorials for her every year since her passing. She was cremated and enshrined in a crypt at Goyang.
Lee Eun-ju's Suicide Note: (translated)
"Mom, I love you. I'll protect you.
I wanted to work so much. I wasn't doing work on purpose;
i couldnt,
but the ppl around me couldnt recognize and understand it...
how could they know how i feel if they're not me..."
"Mom, when i think about it, i know i have to live,
but even when im living i'm not. I'll protect you.
I'll always protect you right next to you.
I didn't want to hate anyone. I tried to handle it myself..."
"No..I have no feelings...I'm not me..
I wanted to go back a year from now.
I prayed everyday, but it was just a foolish wanting.
If it was a year ago, I'd be able to live like me."
"I'm relieved that I saw dad's face 2 days ago.
Money is not everything, but it's such a hard life because of it.
I don't like money either."
"My one and only big brother,
you were way better and talented than me
but I'm sorry because you didn't get the love.
I bet there were many disappointing times because of me.
I wanted to go to many places and wanted to do many things.
I wanted to eat many things too,
but living in a house with the family..living in 1 house,
I thought we could've lived happily by doing what we wanted to do
and going wherever we wanted to go.."
"The person I love the most, mom,
I wanted to make you happy...I'll protect you."
"The last talk on the phone, big sis,
I was thankful, sorry, and it was hard.
The person that told me today's the day.
I thank you.
The people that loved me when I couldn't do anything,
I wanted to meet and laugh together,
I didn't avoid on purpose.
I know it is important,
but I'm sorry I cant agree anymore." ;(**
