Squid Game star and Korean TV actor Lee Joo-sil dies, aged 81

Lee previously revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer around 30 years ago, when she received a prognosis of just one year, but fought it for 13 years and eventually overcame it.

Lee entered the world of acting back in 1964 and throughout her long-spanning career, became best known for her performances in Train to Busan, Korean TV drama The Uncanny Counter and more recently, Squid Game.

In the hit Netflix series, Lee starred as the mother of Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), the determined police officer who is trying to locate the island on which the games are held after finding himself there in season 1.

Her character was also the stepmother of season 2's main antagonist The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), with their own personal family drama being mentioned in the second season.

Of course, The Front Man was central to the drama of season 2 as he disguised himself to be a regular participant of the games and became Player 001 in order to stop Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) winning or having the opportunity to take the games down from the inside.

Lee's other credits also include stage productions like Macbeth and Death of a Salesman, as well as TV shows like It's Beautiful Now, Would You Like a Cup of Coffee? and Happiness.

In her career, Lee also won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Wildflower Film Festival.