Park Young Ha, 1978-2010 | Korea at Schema : more than ethnic

Park Young Ha, 1978-2010 | Korea

It is clear that the increasingly global obsession with Korean culture and entertainment, through media such as dramas and Korean pop music, has been gaining in momentum and popularity over the years. The recent performance of the Wonder Girls, a prominent Korean girl group, at the Vogue Theater here in downtown Vancouver on June 29th demonstrated that the popularity of Korean culture extends well beyond Asia.

However, amidst all the optimism surrounding the Korean entertainment industry, the tremendous stress and internal criticism that is often endured by Korean celebrities has occasionally been too much for these public figures to bear. Celebrity suicides, though shocking and horrific, represent the unspoken dark specter of the industry. And with the recent suicide of Korean actor and singer Park Young Ha on June 30th, the uncomfortable issue, while by no means indicative of the Korean entertainment scene as a whole, reared its head once more, to the dismay and worry of Korean fans and fans worldwide.

Park Young Ha, who played prominent roles in hit dramas such as Winter Sonata, Men's Story, and On Air, was only 32 years old at the time of his death. With no suicide note, it is still uncertain as to the reason why Park took his own life. Famous in Japan, Park had released several albums in Japanese, in addition to his successful dramas. As a high profile actor, his death was mourned by a large number of Korean celebrities, all of whom expressed their sincerest condolences.

The singer Park Gyuri from the band Kara posted this on her Twitter account: "He was one of my favorite actors...My condolences go out to Park Yong Ha... I ask myself, if his closest friends are saying they do not know the reason of his death, how hard would it have been for Park Yong Ha to hide his pain all along?... What we see isn't everything. I hope everyone around, including myself, feels the happiness in life always by not forgetting how thankful we should be. I hope he's free of burdens at where he is now."

Many recalled that Park seemed in relatively normal condition in the days leading to his suicide; in fact, Park was set to play the lead role in an upcoming Korean drama known as Love Song, alongside Yoon Eun Hye, in the near future. His funeral procession took place at 6AM on July 2nd, at Seoul's St. Mary's Hospital, and was led by his father and his close friend So Ji Sub, who had not left Park's side since his body was sent to St. Mary's Hospital.

Park's father, it has been noted, suffered from terminal stomach cancer, and Park had been caring for him at their home prior to his death. The strain and pressure that arose from his father's illness has been offered as a possible reason for Park's suicide; he was very close to his father, and in fact his last known living act was giving his father a massage. But, as Park Gyuri mentions, what we see is not everything, and Park Young Ha's reasons will never be truly clear.

Though Park Young Ha's suicide was understandably shocking and surprising, there have been several other unfortunate instances where Korean celebrities committed suicide for various reasons. Since the actress Lee Eun-Joo took her own life in 2005, a startling number of celebrities have decided that they were unable to bear the difficulties of their lives, ranging from financial problems to divorces.

Depression seems to have been a common symptom; under the intense scrutiny of the public eye in the Korean industry, many celebrities suffer from the high expectations of their work. Of course, the appreciation and love for Korean entertainment and the country as a whole will surely remain strong in the face of such tragedies, but for the fans of Park Young Ha, there will certainly be questions asked as well, and a desire to ease the psychological burden that Korean celebrities as a whole must often deal with, silently, and at times fatally.

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Comments

He's really handsome in this picture. I think he's a big loss. Yes, i agree with this "how hard would it have been for Park Yong Ha to hide his pain all along?.".. Aren't Korean government alarmed by their most number of suicidal case?

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