Actor Kim Seong-min was found unconscious after a suicide attempt following a fight with his wife in the small hours of Friday, according to the police.
(Yonhap)
The Seocho police said they first visited Kim’s house past midnight on Thursday night leading to Friday morning when his 18-year-old son reported a domestic violence case at 1:15 a.m., claiming Kim was hitting his wife.
Kim’s wife, however, said the fight was “only a minor conflict” between the couple.
Instead of pursuing the case, she decided to leave the house with her son to spend the night at a relative’s place.
The police said they received another call from her roughly 10 minutes later as she was concerned that Kim would possibly commit self-destructive actions. He had often said he would kill himself whenever he was under the influence of alcohol.
She said she had told Kim she would leave their marriage.
Upon the wife’s request, the police reentered the couple’s house at around 1:55 a.m. and found Kim unconscious in the bathroom with a tie wrapped tightly around his neck.
Kim was transported to a nearby hospital in Gangnam where he reportedly underwent emergency surgery and is now recuperating.
The 42-year-old actor had previously been embroiled in drug abuse issues. In December 2010, he left all the TV programs he had been on, after being accused of taking the illegal hallucinatory drug methamphetamine.
He returned to the screen after marrying his wife, who is a dentist, in 2013. She was well received by TV audience for her attractive features and smart opinions. However, Kim was accused of another drug abuse case in November 2014.
During the trials that followed in 2015, Kim’s wife is known to have submitted multiple pleas to court, testifying that Kim had attempted suicide following a fight with her and that she suspected he resorted to taking the drug again from the psychological stress.
Kim served a 10-month prison sentence and was released in January.
The actor is best known for the role he played in the 2008 SBS TV drama “Families’ Honor.”
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)