Jang Ja-yeon
| Jang Ja-yeon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 January 1980 Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, South Korea |
| Died | 7 March 2009 (aged 29) Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2006–2009 |
| Jang Ja-yeon | |
| Hangul | 장자연 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 張自然 |
| Revised Romanization | Jang Jayeon |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chang Chayŏn |
Jang Ja-yeon (Hangul: 장자연; 25 January 1980 – 7 March 2009) was a South Korean actress. At the time of her death at the age of 27, Jang had been starring in the KBS television drama series Boys Over Flowers. She had been suffering from depression, and a police investigation concluded that her death was a suicide.
Her death caused a national scandal when it emerged that she had been sexually and physically abused by a number of prominent entertainment executives during her career, and that this abuse had contributed to her depression.
Jang made her debut in 2006 in a television commercial. Her big break came in Boys Over Flowers playing the role of Sunny, one of a trio of girls who antagonise the female lead played by Ku Hye-sun. At the time of her death, Jang was awaiting the release of her first two films, They Are Coming and Penthouse Elephant.
Jang was known to have had difficulties with her management agency. In her seven-page suicide note, the actress alleged her management regularly beat her and demanded she submit to ongoing sexual exploitation with industry professionals and cultural elites, naming almost two dozen executives.
Since the death of her parents in a traffic accident in 1999, Jang had been living with her older sister and younger brother. Prior to her own death, Jang had been suffering from clinical depression and had received medical treatment for her illness during the past year.
Jang Ja-yeon was found hanged at her home in the Bundang district of Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, on 7 March 2009. During a phone call at 3:30 p.m. that afternoon, Jang had complained to her sister about the "overwhelming stress" she was under, saying that she "wanted to die". Having later been unable to reach her on the phone, Jang's sister returned to their shared home at 7:42 p.m. to find her body hanging from the stairway banister.
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