Lee Joo-sil, best known as detective Hwang Jun-ho’s mother for Squid Game, died at 81 on February 2. The South Korean actress suffered cardiac arrest and couldn’t be revived at St. Mary’s Hospital in Uijeongbu.
Three months prior to her death, Lee Joo Sil, Squid Game star, was diagnosed with stomach cancer. However, this wasn’t her first battle with cancer; she had overcome stage 4 breast cancer, diagnosed 30 years earlier, and was given only a year to live but she fought and overcame it after 13 years.
Lee Joo-sil’s funeral is to be held at the Severance Hospital in Sinchon, located in western Seoul, with the procession scheduled for Wednesday.
Lee Joo Sil appeared in the recently released second season of the Netflix thriller series, where she played Park Mal-soon, the mother of undercover detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) and stepmother to Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun).
Hwang Jun-ho, played by Wi Ha-joon, is a South Korean police detective in Squid Game searching for his missing brother, In-ho. Posing as a guard, Jun-ho discovers that his brother is the Front Man, who shoots him, leading to Jun-ho falling off a cliff.
Despite this, Jun-ho survives, rescued by a fisherman named Captain Park, and continues his search for the game’s island in Season 2. In Season 2, Jun-ho’s mother is played by Lee Joo Sil, whose character is named Park Mal-soon.
News of the Squid Game star’s death has prompted reactions from the fans, and her funeral is set to take place at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul.
Her legacy as a talented and resilient actress will live on through the many memorable roles she portrayed on stage and screen.
The Squid Game cast died after a six-decade career that began in 1964, with several stage productions such as “Death of a Salesman” and “Macbeth”. Her film credits include “Train to Busan”, and she also appeared in television dramas such as “The Uncanny Counter”.
Lee also earned a doctorate in Public Health from Wonkwang University in 2010
Keep reading: Squid Game Season 2 is Now Streaming on Netflix
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