'Boys over Flowers' Actress Jang Found Dead in Apparent Suicide

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

Rising actress Jang Ja-yeon, who was currently starring in the KBS 2TV
hit drama ``Boys over Flowers,'' was found dead in an apparent suicide
Saturday at her home in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.

Police said that the 26-year-old actress apparently hanged herself from
a stairway railing and was discovered by her sister around 7:30 p.m.

Jang was known to have had trouble with her current management agency
renewing her contract. The actress had complained about the
overwhelming stress to her sister during a phone call at 3:30 p.m. that
day, saying she ``wants to die.''

According to police investigations, Jang also suffered from depression
and had undergone medical treatment during the past year. About 10
years ago, Jang lost both of her parents in a car accident when she was
in high school and had lived with her sister since.

A will has yet to be found, but after her family's statements about the
actress' ongoing struggle with depression, police are searching for
further evidence of suicide and returned Jang's body to the bereaved
family without performing an autopsy.

Various stars, including the cast of Boys Over Flowers, are visiting
the late actress' mortuary at Seoul National University Bundang
Hospital to offer their condolences.

After her public debut in 2006 in a TV commercial, Jang rose to stardom
playing Sunny, one of the three mean girls in Boys over Flowers. She
was also awaiting her big screen debut in Penthouse Elephant.

- Korea Times Intern Hwang Sung-hee contributed to the article (ssung_86@hotmail.com).

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr p