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Asian ObituariesOctober 13 - October 19
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Sad demise of ‘South Korea's Julia Roberts'
Korean actress Choi Jin-sil was "almost like family" to many ordinary Koreans and her suicide has "shocked society," writes the JoongAng Daily. Unlike many celebrities of her time, Choi's early incarnation as the "girl next door" and later reinvention as a hard-working housewife made her "accessible" at a time when Korean stars were considered a "superior breed." Hers was a modern-day rags-to-riches story that South Koreans loved.
The "quintessential" Choi had a "trademark smile" that was first made famous in a Samsung television ad where she innocently told audiences, "‘men, they all depend on how women fashion them,'" writes Hang Sang Hee in the Korea Times. This "famous quip" helped her to break into television, beginning with the drama Jealousy. Later in her career she was "mired in rumours" surrounding a failed marriage to baseball star Cho Sung-min, and her role as a witness in the trial of the murder of her former manager. But despite the talk, many fans will remember her as the actress "that kept on going," much like the strong female characters she played later in her career.
Choi allegedly ended her life after online rumours circulated accusing her of being the "loan shark" that drove her good friend and actor Ahn Jae-hwan to commit suicide just weeks previous, writes Jennifer Veale in Time, but her pariah status as a single mother and career woman in conservative South Korea probably didn't help matters. After her divorce in 2004, the single, divorced mother became "anathema" to a Korean film industry reluctant to put single mothers in key film roles, and she died just as her career was back on track. "More than South Korea's Julia Roberts or Angelina Jolie," Choi was a "cinematic sweetheart" for close to 20 years, starring in 16 movies and more than a dozen soap operas. She will be remembered her roles in films like My Love My Bride and Susan Brink's Arirang. Choi died at the age of 39.
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Taiwan's auto industry ‘Iron Lady'
Wu Shun-wen was a legend in the Taiwanese automobile industry and one of the island's wealthiest women, says Agence France-Presse. Also called Vivian, she died of heart and lung failure at 94. As chairwoman of Yulon Group Wu was known as the Iron Lady of the auto industry, having taken over the business after the death of her husband Yen Ching-ling in 1981, says Bloomberg. Born in Jiangsu province, Wu and Yen moved to Taiwan in 1948, says AFP.
Read ArticleBankruptcy drove actor to suicide
The end of South Korean actor-turned-businessman Ahn Jae-hwan's life reads like one of the TV dramas he starred in. It is believed the 36-year-old Tears of Diamonds star took his own life after mounting pressure from investors became unbearable, says Bae Ji-sook in The Korea Times. After disappearing for 15 days, Ahn was found in his car, along with the ashes of two charcoal briquettes burned on an iron plate, a common method of suicide in Japan and South Korea.
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