Popular South Korean actress found dead in suspected suicide

Half_a_Person

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday
SEOUL, South Korea - One of South Korea's most popular actresses was found dead in a suspected suicide Thursday, police said.

Choi Jin-sil, whose fame earned her the nickname "The Nation's Actress," was found in the bathroom of her Seoul home Thursday, Seocho Police Station said.

The actress, 39, appeared to have hanged herself but an investigation was under way to determine the exact cause of death, police said. No suicide note has been found, officers said. Her death comes a month after the suicide of a fellow actor rumored to owe her money.

Choi made her debut in the late 1980s and as a bright-eyed ingenue, quickly became one of South Korea's best-loved actresses. She starred in a number of box-office hits, including the films "My Love, My Bride" of 1990 and "How to Top My Wife" of 1994, and TV dramas such as "Jealousy," "My Rosy Life" and last year's "Bad Woman, Good Woman."

Choi was preparing for the second season of the TV drama "The Last Scandal of My Life" in which she played a woman who finds love with a top actor after a painful divorce.

Choi herself had gone through a difficult divorce in recent years. She had married baseball star Cho Sung-min in 2000 while he was playing for the Japanese pro baseball club Yomiuri Giants but they divorced in 2004, with the deterioration of their relationship becoming tabloid fodder. They had two children.

Choi reportedly was suffering mental stress in recent weeks amid unsubstantiated rumors that she had lent money to actor Ahn Jae-hwan, who was found dead in his car last month in an apparent suicide.

Choi denied the rumors, and had asked police to investigate who circulated rumors that Ahn killed himself after Choi pressured him to repay the debt, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Police could not immediately confirm the report Thursday.
 
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