you dont know whether they supported him in private or not. what you are demanding is so out of touch with reality…
Great job as an apologist for the Korean entertainment/suicide industry. What took LSK's life was the culture that gave those recordings, which were vague and in no context, such power; and the idea that LSK's personal life is anyone's fucking business but his and his family's.
As for the U.S. celebs, LOTS of public figures openly supported the people you mentioned, and NONE of the three killed themselves. Sort of apples and oranges.
I assure you that there is a lot of noise in Korea when celebrity suicide occurs. When f(x) Sulli passed away…
"I love how the poster had inadvertently proved my point by saying that the Asian media is quiet about such things because of their "culture" when my whole point was, um, that the Asian media was quiet about such things because of their culture."
But you're not supposed to say that, you evil American.
U.S. has a lot of nasty shit going down, but we generally talk openly about our nasty shit. Unless of course, that shit is an unelected prsident waging a war on a country that was not involved in 9/11, thus killing hundreds of thousands of people and maiming thousands more for life; that kind of shit we don't talk about much. Yeah, that was 20 years ago...so what? That asshole slithers around the barren wastes of Texas to this day, while his victims lie six feet under or in wheelchairs.
When you watch korean dramas and listen to korean music, remember what is going on behind the curtains there and…
Oh my god, I SO feel you on this.
I too discovered Asian cinema three years ago, and over that time I've come to see Korea as the best of the best in general, and far superior to Hollywood (I'm American) in what it turns out. I was also a fan of the K-Pop band SHINee, beginning about the same time. Then I discovered the young man who had become my fave member over two weeks of soaking up the music and videos, Kim Jonhyun, had killed himself two and a half years prior. I was devastated.
Jonghuun's story is what got me researching Korea's suicide problem and that of celebrity suicides in particular. What little of my hair that is left has been standing on end for two years now. The issue is almost unbelievable in scope, and it's incredibly creepy how Korean media uses obfuscation and flowery language and tells everyone to STFU after each suicide, and then it happens...again.
So, like you, I've been thinking "should I be watching all these movies I love, seeing as they originate from such a toxic, vile, sadistic entertainment/cultural environment that actively abuses and drives to suicide some of its best artists on a regular basis?"
Thing is, my little boycott would be entirely unnoticed by anyone else, but it becomes a personal issue because now I cannot listen to SHINee or watch Korean films without thinking about Korean suicides.
Regarding SHINee, just by the way, a second member Taemin, was severely depressed and suffered debilitating anxiety while in the military and had to be hospitalized, then reassigned to fulfill his duty. A third member, Onew, the main singer behind Jonghyun, became severely depressed and was clearly starving to death last year. He removed himself "on hiatus" from the group and hopefully is recovering. I hope for his sake he never goes back, as it will be the literal death of him.
Most obnoxious and disgusting?: The three members who can still function now that Taemin is back, are touring under the SM label as "SHINee," even though their two most powerful vocalists are gone to suicide and depression. Korean entertainment industry plows forward no matter fucking what happens. SHINee opened a huge concert tour of Japan just SIX WEEKS after Jonghyun, a founding member they'd been with for ten years who was the lead vocalist, killed himself. Six weeks. SM re-branded the tour as a series of "memorial services" for Jonghyun and raked in many millions of $$$ from packed arenas and stadiums. The fandom is as toxic as the entertainment conglomerates; they are complicit in these suicides.
Also...just this past Friday, one of the Korean entertainment/suicide industry's self-congratulatory events, the SBS Entertainment Awards, went right ahead as scheduled, despite LSK having been cremated and buried 24 hours earlier. Ohhhhh, but most of the women switched to black gowns, so all the flashing flashbulbs, red carpet posing, fake camaraderie and glad-handing was OK because, you know, the men were already in black with their tuxes and now so were the women too, so it's all good, you see. Damn thing should have been postponed out of respect to the man who made millions for a lot of those people, but what the hey, moving onward...his suicide was yesterday's news.
I assure you that there is a lot of noise in Korea when celebrity suicide occurs. When f(x) Sulli passed away…
Korean articles are not "succinct." They are generally trash. They hide the names and faces of anonymous accusers while splashing the image and name of the accused all over creation. They solicit, accept, and publish anonymous rumors/tips/details of investigations from police informants who are breaking the law in revealing such information.
The creepiest, most disgusting element of your comment is your inclusion of "netizens" who "disclose, summarize, or discuss the issues on the spot."
You deliberately failed to mention that they accuse, spread malicious lies and rumors as if they were facts, and tear people apart without a second thought, all while being extremely judgmental and self-righteous as if they are some sort of organized, appointed group of public, religious figures who have been given this responsibility as a public service.
You should be ashamed of attempting to give these sadists/murderers an air of legitimacy when they should be hunted down and prosecuted for what they do. It's nice for you, too, how you imbue your comments with a non-emotional sense of remove, as if this isn't a horrifying human tragedy, unfolding over and over and over.
I assure you that there is a lot of noise in Korea when celebrity suicide occurs. When f(x) Sulli passed away…
There are a lot more than that. It's just that it seems impossible to find a comprehensive LIST of Korean celeb suicides on the freaking internet in 2024 and there has to be a reason for that: Collusion and denial.
I assure you that there is a lot of noise in Korea when celebrity suicide occurs. When f(x) Sulli passed away…
There is a "lot of noise" after each suicide for about two weeks, then...nothing much.
Moon Bin of EXO, a huge K-Pop star, killed himself just seven months ago at the age of 25. Where are the in-depth investigative pieces Maggi asks for, that would dig into WHY he did this. Such pieces are simply not done in Korea.
I assure you that there is a lot of noise in Korea when celebrity suicide occurs. When f(x) Sulli passed away…
YES, Koreans ARE more private, and that's a big part of why they die by suicide in droves!
No one wants to appear vulnerable for fear of "losing face," so instead they kill themselves. It's not privacy they want; they aren't insistent on "privacy" when they want to show off fancy homes, cars, yachts, the perfect family, blah blah blah, all the stuff they spend their time pretending to be so happy behind.
It's only when it comes to anything that allows a sign of human weakness to show that they demand privacy.
I thank you for the valuable perspective in your comment above, but if it is as you say, then KOREAN CULTURE NEEDS TO CHANGE, AND FAST, starting with criminal investigations/police behavior and media coverage.
The time for "privacy" and these delicate, simpering approaches to covering the horrendous suicide issue in the press is long gone. Korean celebrities have been killing themselves, dropping right and left, for 25 years, at least and it's getting worse.
It's far more than 40 suicides in ten years as Maggi says above. Three K-Poppers killed themselves earlier in 2023 along with a lower-tier actor, but those are already basically out of the news already, and now that LSK is burnt and buried, we hold our breath for the next celebrity to be crucified and hounded to their death.
What's bizarre/creepy is that since LSK died I have been googling things like "celebrity suicides korea list 25 years," "korean celeb suicide comprehensive list," etc. and I can't find ANYTHING that simply lists all the celebs who have killed themselves over the last 25-30 years. That is insane in the internet age. Why don't lists like that pop up by the dozens?
I think I know why: Korean media/social media/police/society tells everyone, indirectly or directly, that "...it is rude and uncomfortable and mean to talk about such things because it will hurt the feelings of the family in their overwhelming, tearful grief as they usher their loved one along on their final journey, so please STFU, how dare you talk about our best creative people killing themselves like lemmings over a cliff, it makes us...nervous."
That is the gist of Korean post-celeb suicide coverage and it's bizarre. I don't give a shit about Eastern sensibilities, this particular one is killing people at an alarming rate and needs to be corrected.
Yes, yes, yes, there is a LOT of fucked up shit about Western culture too, but fear of discussing painful societal realities is generally not one of them.
Ahjussi. Rest wellLesson for everybody else here. If you have a bad day, dont ever drink the alcohol If alcohol…
omg. This is so naive and disgusting. Your comment illustrates the insanity that drove LSK to take his life. Rather than focus on police misconduct, false allegations, horrific behavior of social media, public judgment sans facts, you...
... imply LSK was an alcoholic. ...imply LSK knowingly took illegal drugs, which has been disproven by TWO forensics test.
Yeah, right, go cycling, that will keep you from being hounded to your destruction and death by Korean society. You and people who think like you are the problem.
I saw a video on YouTube by a K-media journalist that covered this unbiased and from an outside perspective. It…
BRAVO. Except, it's not just a shame, it's unprofessional and criminal, as far as the behavior of the police goes. People need to be prosecuted for misconduct. And I hope his widow hires an aggressive, creative lawyer to sue the shit out of some people.
Thank you for providing the link. All I've been able to find on Youtube is videos that exacerbate the problem by REPEATING all the false allegations, and obfuscating the complicity of the media and "netizens" in driving LSK to suicide.
I have never seen anything this actor was in but from reading the comments I think It was appalling the way this…
Check out LSK's filmography, Steven. He did great work and kept getting better. Also had one of the deepest, sexiest voices in all of Korea.
And you're right about how Korea's entertainment/media/"netizens"/police/public criticism mowed him under. But do a little research: The number of K-Film/K-Pop/K-Drama performer suicides over the last 25 years will blow your mind and it's just getting worse.
Korea as a whole has the highest suicide rate among developed nations by far. TWICE what it is in the U.S. Something very unhealthy is slithering around in Korean culture, but they're doing very little of any consequence to address the problem because no one wants to talk about mental health, of all things. They might "lose face" if they admit to wanting help.
The headline of the above article is emblematic of how Korean media, and MDL now, tiptoe around the subject: Lee Sun Kyung did NOT gently and quietly "pass away," he KILLED HIMSELF BY INHALING FUMES FROM BURNING CHARCOAL ALL ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. AFTER MONTHS OF HOUNDING BY KOREAN LAW ENFORCEMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA, PRESS, AND THE PUBLIC.
1 
1 
As for the U.S. celebs, LOTS of public figures openly supported the people you mentioned, and NONE of the three killed themselves. Sort of apples and oranges.
Those freaking awards should have been postponed.
But NOTHING gets in the way of the Korean suicide machine.
But you're not supposed to say that, you evil American.
U.S. has a lot of nasty shit going down, but we generally talk openly about our nasty shit. Unless of course, that shit is an unelected prsident waging a war on a country that was not involved in 9/11, thus killing hundreds of thousands of people and maiming thousands more for life; that kind of shit we don't talk about much. Yeah, that was 20 years ago...so what? That asshole slithers around the barren wastes of Texas to this day, while his victims lie six feet under or in wheelchairs.
I too discovered Asian cinema three years ago, and over that time I've come to see Korea as the best of the best in general, and far superior to Hollywood (I'm American) in what it turns out. I was also a fan of the K-Pop band SHINee, beginning about the same time. Then I discovered the young man who had become my fave member over two weeks of soaking up the music and videos, Kim Jonhyun, had killed himself two and a half years prior. I was devastated.
Jonghuun's story is what got me researching Korea's suicide problem and that of celebrity suicides in particular. What little of my hair that is left has been standing on end for two years now. The issue is almost unbelievable in scope, and it's incredibly creepy how Korean media uses obfuscation and flowery language and tells everyone to STFU after each suicide, and then it happens...again.
So, like you, I've been thinking "should I be watching all these movies I love, seeing as they originate from such a toxic, vile, sadistic entertainment/cultural environment that actively abuses and drives to suicide some of its best artists on a regular basis?"
Thing is, my little boycott would be entirely unnoticed by anyone else, but it becomes a personal issue because now I cannot listen to SHINee or watch Korean films without thinking about Korean suicides.
Regarding SHINee, just by the way, a second member Taemin, was severely depressed and suffered debilitating anxiety while in the military and had to be hospitalized, then reassigned to fulfill his duty. A third member, Onew, the main singer behind Jonghyun, became severely depressed and was clearly starving to death last year. He removed himself "on hiatus" from the group and hopefully is recovering. I hope for his sake he never goes back, as it will be the literal death of him.
Most obnoxious and disgusting?: The three members who can still function now that Taemin is back, are touring under the SM label as "SHINee," even though their two most powerful vocalists are gone to suicide and depression. Korean entertainment industry plows forward no matter fucking what happens. SHINee opened a huge concert tour of Japan just SIX WEEKS after Jonghyun, a founding member they'd been with for ten years who was the lead vocalist, killed himself. Six weeks. SM re-branded the tour as a series of "memorial services" for Jonghyun and raked in many millions of $$$ from packed arenas and stadiums. The fandom is as toxic as the entertainment conglomerates; they are complicit in these suicides.
Also...just this past Friday, one of the Korean entertainment/suicide industry's self-congratulatory events, the SBS Entertainment Awards, went right ahead as scheduled, despite LSK having been cremated and buried 24 hours earlier. Ohhhhh, but most of the women switched to black gowns, so all the flashing flashbulbs, red carpet posing, fake camaraderie and glad-handing was OK because, you know, the men were already in black with their tuxes and now so were the women too, so it's all good, you see. Damn thing should have been postponed out of respect to the man who made millions for a lot of those people, but what the hey, moving onward...his suicide was yesterday's news.
Keep in mind Korea has the highest suicide rate in the developed world, TWICE that of the very fucked-up U.S., where I live.
The creepiest, most disgusting element of your comment is your inclusion of "netizens" who "disclose, summarize, or discuss the issues on the spot."
You deliberately failed to mention that they accuse, spread malicious lies and rumors as if they were facts, and tear people apart without a second thought, all while being extremely judgmental and self-righteous as if they are some sort of organized, appointed group of public, religious figures who have been given this responsibility as a public service.
You should be ashamed of attempting to give these sadists/murderers an air of legitimacy when they should be hunted down and prosecuted for what they do. It's nice for you, too, how you imbue your comments with a non-emotional sense of remove, as if this isn't a horrifying human tragedy, unfolding over and over and over.
Moon Bin of EXO, a huge K-Pop star, killed himself just seven months ago at the age of 25. Where are the in-depth investigative pieces Maggi asks for, that would dig into WHY he did this. Such pieces are simply not done in Korea.
No one wants to appear vulnerable for fear of "losing face," so instead they kill themselves. It's not privacy they want; they aren't insistent on "privacy" when they want to show off fancy homes, cars, yachts, the perfect family, blah blah blah, all the stuff they spend their time pretending to be so happy behind.
It's only when it comes to anything that allows a sign of human weakness to show that they demand privacy.
I thank you for the valuable perspective in your comment above, but if it is as you say, then KOREAN CULTURE NEEDS TO CHANGE, AND FAST, starting with criminal investigations/police behavior and media coverage.
The time for "privacy" and these delicate, simpering approaches to covering the horrendous suicide issue in the press is long gone. Korean celebrities have been killing themselves, dropping right and left, for 25 years, at least and it's getting worse.
It's far more than 40 suicides in ten years as Maggi says above. Three K-Poppers killed themselves earlier in 2023 along with a lower-tier actor, but those are already basically out of the news already, and now that LSK is burnt and buried, we hold our breath for the next celebrity to be crucified and hounded to their death.
What's bizarre/creepy is that since LSK died I have been googling things like "celebrity suicides korea list 25 years," "korean celeb suicide comprehensive list," etc. and I can't find ANYTHING that simply lists all the celebs who have killed themselves over the last 25-30 years. That is insane in the internet age. Why don't lists like that pop up by the dozens?
I think I know why: Korean media/social media/police/society tells everyone, indirectly or directly, that "...it is rude and uncomfortable and mean to talk about such things because it will hurt the feelings of the family in their overwhelming, tearful grief as they usher their loved one along on their final journey, so please STFU, how dare you talk about our best creative people killing themselves like lemmings over a cliff, it makes us...nervous."
That is the gist of Korean post-celeb suicide coverage and it's bizarre. I don't give a shit about Eastern sensibilities, this particular one is killing people at an alarming rate and needs to be corrected.
Yes, yes, yes, there is a LOT of fucked up shit about Western culture too, but fear of discussing painful societal realities is generally not one of them.
... imply LSK was an alcoholic.
...imply LSK knowingly took illegal drugs, which has been disproven by TWO forensics test.
Yeah, right, go cycling, that will keep you from being hounded to your destruction and death by Korean society. You and people who think like you are the problem.
Thank you for providing the link. All I've been able to find on Youtube is videos that exacerbate the problem by REPEATING all the false allegations, and obfuscating the complicity of the media and "netizens" in driving LSK to suicide.
Disgusting and appalling.
And you're right about how Korea's entertainment/media/"netizens"/police/public criticism mowed him under. But do a little research: The number of K-Film/K-Pop/K-Drama performer suicides over the last 25 years will blow your mind and it's just getting worse.
Korea as a whole has the highest suicide rate among developed nations by far. TWICE what it is in the U.S. Something very unhealthy is slithering around in Korean culture, but they're doing very little of any consequence to address the problem because no one wants to talk about mental health, of all things. They might "lose face" if they admit to wanting help.
The headline of the above article is emblematic of how Korean media, and MDL now, tiptoe around the subject: Lee Sun Kyung did NOT gently and quietly "pass away," he KILLED HIMSELF BY INHALING FUMES FROM BURNING CHARCOAL ALL ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. AFTER MONTHS OF HOUNDING BY KOREAN LAW ENFORCEMENT, SOCIAL MEDIA, PRESS, AND THE PUBLIC.
That's the headline as it should be.
Spice makes life taste better!