THE death of actress Kim Sae-ron (pic) this week has triggered an outpouring of grief and calls for changes to the way the country’s celebrities are treated in the public arena and on social media, which critics say can foster a culture of harassment.
The 24-year-old, who began her career as a child actor and earned acclaim for her roles in several domestic films, including the 2010 hit The Man from Nowhere, was found dead by a friend at her home in Seoul on Sunday.
Once among the brightest stars on South Korea’s vibrant movie and television scene, Kim struggled to find work after a 2022 drink driving incident, for which she was later fined in court.
Online posts in South Korea are notoriously harsh toward celebrities who make missteps, especially women, and Kim faced constant negative coverage from news organisations that capitalised on public sentiment.
Newspapers and websites criticised her whenever she was seen partying with friends, or when she complained about her lack of work and nasty comments on social media. She was even criticised for smiling while filming an independent movie last year.
Following Kim’s death, several of the country’s major newspapers yesterday published editorials and opinion pieces lambasting the toxic online comments about the actor. Some invoked the 2019 deaths of K-Pop singers Seol-li and Goo Hara and the 2023 death of Squid Game actor Lee Sun-kyun while calling for a change in the “harsh, zero-tolerance” culture toward celebrities.
The watchdog Citizens’ Coalition for Democratic Media yesterday criticised news organisations for blaming social media without considering their own “sensational and provocative reporting”. — AP
