Actor Kim Sae-ron’s death adds to the list of celebrity deaths in South Korea that underscore the enormous pressure they face under the gaze of a relentlessly unforgiving media that pounces on their every misstep.

Na Jong-ho, a psychiatry professor at Yale University, likened the spate of celebrity deaths in South Korea to a real-life version of Squid Game, the South Korean Netflix blockbuster which sees the indebted fighting to the death for a huge cash prize.

The South Korean actress was found dead in her home after she stepped away from acting following a DUI incident.