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Tribune News Service

South Korean actress Lee Joo-sil, a star in the second season of Squid Game,” has died.
She was 81.
The veteran actress collapsed in cardiac arrest at home in Uijeongbu, South Korea, on February 2, three months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer, The Korea Times reported. She was brought to a hospital but could not be revived.
Lee played Park Mal-soon, the doting mother of undercover detective Hwang Jun Ho (Wi Ha-joon) and stepmother of Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), in the first two episodes of Season 2.

It was the culmination of a six-decade career that saw her blossom from stage actress to television and movies.
Born on March 8, 1944, Lee launched her career in 1964 and began appearing onstage in 1965, rising to prominence in the theatre scene with starring roles in a slew of acclaimed productions, The Korea Times noted. She also worked as a voice actress, according to IMDb.

She eventually moved to television and movies, making her mark in big-screen zombie thriller Train to Busan in 2016 and drama series The Uncanny Counter in 2020, according to People.
This was not Lee’s first bout with cancer. She had beaten breast cancer 13 years after a 1993 diagnosis gave her just a year to live.
Working throughout those health struggles, Lee took her career from the theatre to TV and movies, The Korea Times reported, and earned a public health doctorate from Wonkwang University.

“Everyone becomes stronger when faced with a crisis,” she told an interviewer in 2023. “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.”
The actress also appeared in 2022’s It’s Beautiful Now, the series Country Diaries from 1980 until 2002, and Beauty and Mr. Romantic, Deadline noted.


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Actress Lee Joo-sil, whose death from cancer at the age of 80 has been announced. Photo: Instagram/pepalerts

Lee Byung-hun (centre) as the mysterious Front Man in Squid Game. Lee Joo-sil, the actress who played his character’s stepmother Park Mal-soon, has died following a cancer diagnosis. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix/TNS

South Korean actress Lee Joo-sil, a star in the second season of Squid Game, who has died aged 80. Photo: Facebook/Kendall Writes

Lee Joo-sil’s film credits included Train to Busan (above). Photo: Next Entertainment World

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in a still from season 2 of Squid Game. Actress Lee Joo-sil, who appeared in the first two episodes of the series, has died suddenly following a cancer diagnosis. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

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Lee Joo-sil played Park Mal-soon, mother of Wi Ha-joon’s detective and stepmother to Lee Byung-hun’s Front Man, in season 2 of drama series


Lee Joo-sil played Park Mal-soon, mother of Wi Ha-joon’s detective and stepmother to Lee Byung-hun’s Front Man, in season 2 of drama series.


Obituary | Squid Game 2 actress dies 3 months after stomach cancer diagnosis

Lee Joo-sil played Park Mal-soon, mother of Wi Ha-joon’s detective and stepmother to Lee Byung-hun’s Front Man, in season 2 of drama series