South Korean actor Kim Sung-min brain dead after suicide attempt

The doctors declared him brain dead at Seoul's St Mary's Hospital at 2 am on Sunday.

South Korean actor Kim Sung-min is confirmed to be brain dead, after he attempted suicide.

The 43-year-old actor fell into a coma after his failed suicidal attempt. The doctors declared him brain dead at Seoul's St Mary's Hospital at 2 am on Sunday. Sung-min will be buried on Tuesday.

Yonhap News Agency, a South Korean news agency reported that his family "expressed a willingness to donate his organs" and hence the actor's kidneys, liver, intestines and corneas were removed through a surgery.

"It is often the case that the bereaved family's decision to donate organs comes too late, missing the golden time (to use the organs), but Kim's family agreed in just two days," Dr. Yang Chul-woo at the hospital's organ donation centre told Yonhap.

Sung-min was given a suspended two and a half year jail sentence for drug consumption in 2012. Later, in 2015, he was arrested and jailed for the same offence. However, he was released from prison in January.

In 2002, Kim rose to stardom in the hit television drama series Mermaid Lady.