Parasite star Lee Sun-kyun demanded LIE DETECTOR test over ‘drugs blackmail plot’ hours before sudden death
PARASITE star Lee Sun-kyun volunteered to take a lie detector test the day before he was found dead inside a car at a park in Seoul.
Sun-kyun, 48, was being investigated on suspicion of using marijuana and other illegal drugs and hoped the test would prove his innocence, according to reports.
Legal sources said the movie star submitted a polygraph test request through his lawyer to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency in Incheon, about 30km west of Seoul in South Korea, on Tuesday.
He had been accused of using illegal drugs at the home of a high-end bar hostess on multiple occasions this year, but claimed she tricked him in a blackmail plot and extorted him for $270,000 (£212,000), reports.
Police discovered Sun-kyun's body at 10.30am this morning after his wife, former Miss Korea contestant Jeon Hye-jin, located a suicide note at his home.
The actor reportedly tested negative for drugs in two recent tests and endured three rounds of police questioning before his death.
He was last pictured on Saturday arriving at a police station in Incheon for a grilling which reportedly lasted 19 hours.
Sun-kyun's death came just one day after he is said to have requested a lie detector test to clear his name.
His lawyers told yesterday: "If she was speaking the truth, the drug test by the National Forensic Service should have come back positive, but it was negative.
"As Lee finds himself in an extremely unfair situation, a lie detector test should be conducted on both of them to scientifically verify who is speaking truthfully."
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The police was expected to review the request for a lie detector test and make a determination on whether or not one should be used.
Drug laws in South Korea are notoriously strict and those found guilty of drug crimes face jail sentences of between six months and 14 years.
The bar hostess, whose identity is not known, is said to be aged in her 20s and have worked at a high-end bar in Seoul's Gangnam district.
Sun-kyun alleged she tricked him into using drugs and claimed he didn't know what he was consuming.
He said during questioning that he had met the hostess four times and inhaled powder through his nose which he thought was a crushed sleeping pill but the woman claimed was ketamine.
Following Saturday's hours-long questioning session at the cop shop, he emerged on Christmas Eve to say: "I feel like it is a bit too late, but I've finished the questioning by the police about the blackmail case.
"I hope the police wisely determine which statements are more reliable between mine and the blackmailers."
The Parasite star was reportedly dropped from several major TV projects after the drug accusations were made public in late October.
His lawyers asked last week that the police proceedings be made more private as Sun-kyun reportedly felt "burdened" by the publicity and the cameras directed at his face at each summons.
