Squid GameActor Lee Joo-Sil Dies at 81 Just 3 Months After Stomach Cancer Diagnosis

Mar. 15, 2025

Lee Joo-Sil, pictured in Squid Game.Photo:Netflix

Netflix

Actress Lee Joo-Sil, best known for playingPark Mal Soonin the second season of Netflix’sSquid Game, has died. She was 81.

According to her talent agency,1230Culture, Lee went into cardiac arrest at her family home on the morning of Feb. 2 and was pronounced dead after being transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, perSouth Korean newspaperJoongAng Ilbo.

She had been diagnosed with stomach cancer just three months before her death, theKorea Heraldreported.

Starring inSquid Gameas the mom of undercover detective Hwang Joon-Ho (Wi Ha Joon) and stepmother of Hwang In Ho (Lee Byang Hun) was her last role, according toIMDB.

Squid Game, pictured.Netflix

Lee was previously diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in her fifties and given a one-year life expectancy, according toKorean newspaperThe Chosun Ilbo.

Despite this, in a July 2023 broadcast the actress confirmed that she spent 13 years being treated for the disease and that it had ultimately been successful, per the outlet.

“I found out at the end of stage 3 and it soon became stage 4,” Lee said at the time. “I overcame it well because I have children.”

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Having begun her acting career in 1964, Lee starred in notable stage productions ofDeath of a SalesmanandMacbeth, K-dramaThe Uncanny Counter, and the 2016 horror movieTrain to Busan.

According toJoongAng Ilbo, Lee also obtained a doctorate degree in Public Health at Wonkwang University in 2010.

Her funeral service will be held at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, on Feb. 5, perThe Korea Times.

source: people.com