SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean actress Choi Jin-sil, 39,
known as "The Nation's Actress," was found dead Thursday in an
apparent suicide, hours after she sent a text message saying "take
care of my children no matter what happens."
Yang Jae-ho, chief investigator at Seoul's Seocho Police
Station, said Choi is believed to have hanged herself in the
bathroom of her Seoul home, said
Choi had been depressed since her 2004 divorce and worried about
how to care for her two young children, friends told police. She
divorced baseball star Cho Sung-min, then a pitcher for the
Japanese pro baseball team Yomiuri Giants. The deterioration of
their two-year relationship became tabloid fodder, culminating in
Cho's arrest for attacking her.
Rumors that she had demanded repayment of a loan to actor and
longtime friend Ahn Jae-hwan, who was found dead in his car in
early September, upset the actress, friends and family said. Choi
denied loaning Ahn money and asked police to find out who was
circulating the claims.
Choi sent an assistant two cellphone text messages Wednesday
night asking her to "take care of my children no matter what
happens" and telling her "I'm sorry," the chief investigator
said.
Choi's mother told police the actress returned home drunk around
midnight Wednesday, crying and denying the recent rumors, before
going into the bathroom, Yang said.