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Filmmaker Kim Ki-duk dies aged 59 following complications due to Covid-19

Filmmaker Kim Ki-duk [YONHAP]

Filmmaker Kim Ki-duk has died following complications after contracting the coronavirus.

Foreign media reported Friday evening that the 59-year-old filmmaker had passed away at a hospital in Latvia.

Local media later confirmed the reports after contacting Kim's family.

Kim is best known for his 2012 drama “Pieta,” which won him the Golden Lion Prize at the Venice Film Festival that year, and other representative works include “Arirang” (2011) and “Moebius” (2013).

Although Kim is the first filmmaker in Korea to have been invited to all three major international film festivals --Cannes, Venice and Berlin -- his works remained controversial due to his frequent usage of violence and disturbing scenes, especially involving female actors. Kim went off-the-grid in Korea after an anonymous actor alleged in 2017 that he sexually assaulted her.

Kim recently lost damage suits of a total of 1 billion won ($897,000) he filed against the female actor and a local television broadcaster over the sexual assault claims.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]