By Jonathan Hicap
Korean actor Kim Joo-hyuk, who won best actor for the 2005 hit drama “Lovers in Prague,” died in a car accident in the afternoon of Oct. 30. He was 45.
A black box video from another vehicle showed Kim Joo-hyuk was driving his Mercedes-Benz SUV in Samseong-dong in Gangnam, Seoul at around 4:30 p.m. when he suddenly hit another vehicle. The car then swerved and hit a wall of an apartment building before it slid down the stairs and turned on its side.
He was rescued by firefighters and rushed to the Konkuk University Hospital where he died at around 6:30 p.m.
Authorities are investigating whether the actor had a heart attack at the time of the accident as one witness said he saw him grabbing his chest shortly before the accident.
An autopsy will be done on Kim Joo-hyuk by the National Forensic Service to determine the exact cause of death.
Fellow stars and colleagues in the entertainment industry are mourning his death.
Kim Joo-hyuk died just three days after winning the best supporting actor award for the film “Confidential Assignment” at the first Seoul Awards on Oct. 27.
A son of the late actor Kim Mu-saeng, Kim Joo-hyuk appeared in many Korean dramas and films.
He starred in the films “My Wife Got Married,” “The Servant,” “The Beauty Inside” and “Confidential Assignment,” and dramas “Lovers in Prague,” “God of War,” “Reply 1988” and the recent “Argon.” He was also a cast member of the variety show “2 Days & 1 Night” from 2013 to 2015.
For “Lovers in Prague,” he won the Top Excellence Award at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards.
