South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron, a former child star whose promising career suffered a setback in recent years after a drunk-driving incident, was found dead in her home on Sunday afternoon, police said.

Kim, who was 24, was discovered by a friend who had visited her house, according to the Seongdong police station in Seoul. The police on Monday said Kim’s death was a suicide.

One of South Korea’s most lauded young actors, Kim had not appeared in any shows since she faced public criticism after being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2022.

Her death marks the latest tragedy to strike South Korea’s booming but high-pressure entertainment industry, which has faced criticism for the toll it places on the mental health of its burgeoning stars. A celebrity’s popularity is often contingent on a spotless reputation, experts say.

Kim started her acting career by starring in A Brand New Life, a film about a girl abandoned in an orphanage, in 2009. She was 9 years old when the movie premiered and was invited to the Cannes Film Festival. She continued to appear in both big- and small-screen productions, accumulating at least two dozen credits and receiving numerous South Korean acting awards.

In May 2022, Kim’s career suffered after she was caught driving under the influence. She crashed her car into a guardrail and transformer, cutting off electricity to dozens of nearby businesses for several hours, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Kim was fined 20 million won (around $14,000) and faced a fierce backlash on social media from the public and influencers, who criticised her behaviour as reckless.
At the time of the crash, Kim was filming a Netflix series called Bloodhounds that was released in 2023. Several of her scenes were edited out of the final cut, according to the entertainment-industry publication Variety, and she did not attend promotional events with the other members of the cast. Kim also stepped down from her role in another television drama by a local broadcaster.

After that, she mostly stayed out of the public eye. Local media has reported that the actress was attempting to return to the entertainment industry in small-budget projects and a stage play. Her last acting credit remains Netflix’s Bloodhounds, according to the industry website IMDb.

New York Times News Service