‘Squid Game’ Actress Lee Joo-sil Dies at 81

Korean actress Lee Joo-sil has died at the age of 81, Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo reported. The cause of death was reportedly complications related to stomach cancer, and she was in her home city of Uijeongbu at the time.

The actress was known for her recent role in Squid Game as Park Mal Soon, the mother of Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) and stepmother of Hwang Jun-ho (Lee Byung-hun). She appeared in the role in the first two episodes of Season 2, which hit the streamer last December. Prior to that role, she was also known for her appearance in the 2016 zombie thriller Train to Busan as the mother of Seok-woo, and as Jang Chun-ok in The Uncanny Counter.

Lee Joo-sil previously survived a breast cancer diagnosis in 1993 after being given one year to live and reportedly said in 2023, “Everyone becomes stronger when faced with a crisis. If you let everything go, you become helpless.’ When I was contacted by a film company to work with them, I said, ‘I’m sick,’ and they said, ‘That’s an illness, and we’re working.’ I was grateful for that kind of thinking,'” according to Chosun. She was reportedly diagnosed with stomach cancer in November.

Lee was born in South Korea in 1944 and got her start in stage work in 1964.

From TV Guide Magazine

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