South Korean actor Kim Sae-ron dead at 24

Actress Kim Sae-ron attends the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards at Asia World-Expo in December 2017 in Hong Kong. (Visual China Group/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korean actor Kim Sae-ron was found dead at her home in Seoul on Sunday, nearly two years after she retreated from the public eye following a drunk driving conviction. She was 24.

Kim’s body was discovered by a friend, according to police. There were no signs of foul play and officers are investigating the circumstances of her death, a police official told CNN.

Kim began her career as a child actor and gained widespread recognition, including an appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, for her role as a girl abandoned at an orphanage in the 2009 movie “A Brand New Life.”

She later starred in the 2010 action hit “The Man from Nowhere,” the 2012 mystery thriller “The Neighbors,” and the 2014 drama “A Girl at My Door,” among numerous roles in film and television.

But Kim’s career had stalled since April 2023 after a Seoul court found her guilty of driving under the influence when she crashed her car in the South Korean capital a year earlier. Kim avoided jail but was fined about $14,000.

Her last known role was in Netflix’s 2023 K-drama “Bloodhounds.”

The final post on Kim’s Instagram account, a photo of the actor shared in January, has accumulated more than 205,000 likes. Comments are disabled on the account.

Korean celebrities paid tribute to Kim following the news of her death.

“May you rest in peace,” actor Kim Ok-bin wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of a white chrysanthemum, a symbol of grief in many Asian cultures.

Kim’s co-star Kim Min-che shared a photo of a scene from “The Neighbors” on Instagram and said: “I was so happy to meet you as my daughter in the movie. May you rest in peace.”

Recent deaths of young K-pop idols and K-drama stars have highlighted ongoing concerns about mental health and pressures in South Korea’s entertainment industry.

Song Jae-lim, a former model who rose to prominence in K-dramas, was found dead in his apartment last November at age 39. ASTRO boy band member Moon bin died last year at age 25. K-pop singer and actress Sulli was also 25 when she died in 2019. And two years earlier, boyband SHINee’s Kim Jong-hyun was found dead at his home at age 27.

Entertainment agencies have implemented various mental health support systems, including counseling services and more flexible schedules, but observers say the highly competitive nature of K-entertainment, combined with intense public scrutiny, and expectations of perfection in appearance and behavior, are affecting stars.

By Yoonjung Seo and Edward Szekeres, CNN