Jo Min-ki death case: Police finds suicide note left by South Korean actor

Jo Min-ki
Jo Min-ki MBCdrama/ YouTube

South Korean actor Jo Min-ki, who was found dead on Friday following a series of sexual abuse allegations, left a six-page suicide note, police said on Saturday.

The police told Yonhap that in the suicide note, the 52-year-old actor apologized to his family and students at Cheongju University, where he taught acting from 2010 through early this year. However, the authorities have declined to reveal the full contents of the note in order to maintain privacy of the actor's bereaved family.

Jo Min-ki was found hanged at about 4 pm on Friday in a storage unit in the basement of the officetel building where he resided, reported Yonhap. He was taken to the hospital and declared dead on arrival.

At least eight victims, most of whom were drama students at Jo's university, accused the actor of sexually molesting them. Following the scandal, he was forced out of his professorship and had to leave a role in a new television series. These incidents left Jo's decade-long acting career in tatters.

On Monday, the late actor was supposed to present himself to prosecutors for questioning.

In 1982, Jo made his debut as a theatre actor and successfully expanded his career to the small screen and films. In recent years, one of his most prominent film role was in The Attorney, which was released in 2013.

This article was first published on March 10, 2018