Korean News Agency Posts The Contents Of Lee Sun Kyun’s “Will”—Forced To Take It Down And Apologize

The Korean media outlet that revealed the contents of the late actor Lee Sun Kyun‘s will deleted their article, according to reports on January 4, KST.

Lee Sun Kyun passed away on December 27, 2023, in the midst of a scandalous drug abuse investigation. It was reported that his wife, actress Jeon Hyo Jin had reported her husband’s disappearance to the police at around 10:12 AM that day, stating that he had left a hand-written letter behind, which appeared to be a will. That very night, TV Chosun published an article, claiming to be revealing some of the contents of the note Lee left behind.

According to TV Chosun’s article, Lee had written things like “This is the only way,” and “I’m sorry that the advertising and movie penalties are so high.” The media outlet even explicitly mentioned the supposed penalty amount, claiming that it was nearly ₩10.0 billion KRW (about $7.61 million USD), implying that the late actor was under great financial pressure.

Immediately after the article’s publication, controversy arose as counter-reports claimed that the contents of the note were publicized without the bereaved family’s consent. According to a Dispatch report on January 4, the 10 billion amount was an arbitrary interpretation of the media with no factual basis. The outlet got in touch with an official from the film and advertising industry for further clarification and learned that a penalty cannot be imposed where a criminal punishment has not been handed to the individual(s) in concern. Lee Sun Kyun’s case was certainly not at a stage where he could be penalized by agencies he had contracts with.

On January 2, the late actor’s agency HODU&U Entertainment, sued a reporter from TV Chosum and asked for a sincere apology from them. Meanwhile, the report has been erased from the outlet’s website.