Korean film director Kim Ki-duk dies of Covid-19 AFP 12th December, 2020 10:42:44 Acclaimed South Korean film director Kim Ki-duk, who won global recognition for his violent works and faced allegations of abusing his actresses, died from coronavirus in Latvia on Friday, the country's top film official said. "Unfortunately, the sad news about Kim Ki-duk's death from coronavirus in Latvia is true," Dita Rietuma, head of the National Film Centre of Latvia, told AFP. "It is known from his contact persons that he died in a hospital in Riga around 1:30 a.m. earlier today," she added. The Korean director, whose works enjoyed huge acclaim at European film festivals where he scooped several awards, died just nine days shy of his 60th birthday.