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Actress From Hit TV Show Passes Away At 81

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A popular Korean actress and star of the hit Netflix series, “Squid Game,” has passed away at the age of 81, only three months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. She played the role of Detective Hwang Jun-ho’s mother in the series.

Reports revealed that Lee Joo-Sil went into cardiac arrest on Sunday morning and was immediately taken to St. Mary’s Hospital located in Uijeongbu. Medical personnel at the facility tried their best, but Joo-Sil was soon pronounced dead. This was Joo-Sil’s second bout of cancer; she also battled stage four breast cancer in 1993.

“I found out at the end of stage 3 and it soon became stage 4,” Lee went on to say of her cancer diagnosis at the time. “I overcame it well because I have children.”

“Everyone becomes stronger when faced with a crisis,” she added, according to People. “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.”

Doctors told her she only had a year left to live at the time. However, almost a decade later, her cancer went into remission, and she went on to earn a doctorate degree in Public Health from Wonkwang University in 2010, The Daily Caller reported.

Joo-Sil first started acting on stage in 1965, going on to make appearances in several famous plays, including “Death of a Salesman” and the popular Shakespeare work “Macbeth,” during the 70s and 80s. The actress starred in the 2014 film “Roaring Currents,” along with the horror hit “Train to Busan” two years later.

“The local news outlet reported that the actress will be memorialized at a funeral hall at the Severance Hospital in Sinchon, western Seoul. She will be laid to rest on February 5,” the report said. “Fans and loved ones continue to pay tribute to the star on social media, as they pay their final respects.”

Streaming giant Netflix, which produces “Squid Game,” recently announced that the third season of their smash success series, which is allegedly going to be the conclusion of the show, will premiere on June 27, 2025. Season two of the show was just released on Christmas Day 2024, which makes season three’s debut a very fast turnaround.

“At a press event on Wednesday, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria rolled a brief clip from ‘Squid Game 3’ in which players alternate randomly receiving either red or blue balls out of a giant gumball machine, deciding teams. Gi-hun is still alive and will again be fighting for his life. Who knows what deadly game awaits them,” Indie Wire reported.

It seems 2025 will be a big year for Netflix as they are closing out a number of their most popular properties with the final seasons of “Stranger Things,” “Cobra Kai,” and “Big Mouth” all coming out this year.

“Squid Game” was dreamed up by Hwang Dong-hyuk and involves players in deep debt fighting to the death by competing in a popular children’s game for a chance to win 456 Korean won.