REST IN PEACE

‘Squid Game’ Actress Dies at 81

Lee Joo-sil was diagnosed with stomach cancer just last November.

Squid Game actress Lee Joo-sil died at age 81 after a battle with stomach cancer. According to Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo, the actress died in her home in Uijeongbu on Sunday morning. Lee starred as Hwang Jun-Ho’s mother in two episodes Squid Game Season 2. She was also in the 2016 hit zombie thriller Train to Busan as the grandmother of protagonist Seok-woo. Lee was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 50s and was given a one-year lifespan, but she overcame the disease after 13 years. “I overcame it well because I have children,” she said in July 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.” During a checkup last November, however, Lee found that she had stomach cancer. She started her acting career in 1964 with appearances in the dramas Country Diaries, The Uncanny Counter, and The Present is Beautiful.