Death of actor Kim Sae-ron sparks renewed calls for changes to ease pressure on celebrities who face intense scrutiny from media and fans alike

On Friday, the South Korean columnist Yang Sung-hee asked a question to which no one appears to have an answer: “When will this ever end? How many more lives must be lost before this tragic cycle is broken?”

Yang’s question, asked in the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper, is just one of many that has emerged since the actor Kim Sae-ron was found dead in her home in Seoul on Sunday in a case police are treating as suicide. She was 24.