Reporters and YouTubers cause disturbance at Lee Sun-kyun's wake

Loved ones came down to the late Lee Sun-kyun's wake at Seoul National University Hospital before sending him off for his funeral this morning (Dec 29).

The 48-year-old's co-stars from his previous shows, including Ryu Seung-ryong (All About My Wife), Gong Hyo-jin (Pasta), Kim Dong-wook and Gong Yoo (Coffee Prince) and Park So-dam (Parasite) were reportedly in attendance.

Parasite's director Bong Joon-ho and actors Cho Jin-woong, Park Sung-woong, Jung Ryeo-won, Oh Na-ra and Moon Geun-young were among other celebrities who paid their last respects.

His actress wife Jeon Hye-jin, 47, and their two sons aged 14 and 12, were seen leading the funeral procession.

The elder son held Sun-kyun's funeral portrait while Hye-jin followed behind him, crying as she held the younger boy's hand.

A report added that veteran actor Lee Sung-min, who starred with Sun-kyun in the drama Golden Time and is in the same agency as him, could not stop crying even after the send-off.

Fans left post-it notes on the wall near the funeral hall's entrance to say their farewells. One wrote, "Goodbye, my uncle," in reference to his hit 2018 drama My Mister.

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'Unbearably cruel'

There were intruders at Sun-kyun's wake even though his agency Hodu&U Entertainment previously announced that it would be a private affair for only family and colleagues.

According to South Korean media, the third floor of Seoul National University Hospital where his wake was held was off-limits to reporters and the public.

However, according to his agency, some media outlets showed up at the wake and even made surprise visits to his home and their office hoping to conduct interviews.

The agency pleaded in a statement: "People who introduced themselves as YouTubers are visiting the funeral home day and night and causing a disturbance, which is unbearably cruel.

"We once again ask you to allow the family, colleagues, and friends of the deceased to mourn and memorialise as much as they wish during his final journey."

Sun-kyun's remains will be kept at the Samsung Elysium in Gwangju.

Before his death, he was under police investigation for illegal drug use and had undergone three rounds of interrogations, including a final one that went on for 19 hours.

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He had claimed he was tricked into taking the drugs and did not know what he was consuming.

On Dec 27, police were alerted at around 10.12am (9.12am Singapore time) that he had left home after leaving a message that resembled a suicide note.

He was later found unconscious in a car with a charcoal briquette in the passenger seat.

Parts of the contents of the note were revealed and Sun-kyun reportedly told his wife, "I can't help it" and "I think there is no other way".

Incheon Metropolitan Police chief Kim Hui-jung told a news briefing the entire questioning process was justified and done with Sun-kyun's consent. His drug case is scheduled to close with 'no right to prosecute' due to his death.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com