Kwak Yeon-soo is a digital editor at The Korea Times creating, editing and curating digital content for the newspaper’s website, mobile app and social media. She previously covered a diverse array of cultural, political and business topics.
Beauty YouTuber Dawn Lee dies at 30 from cancer
Beauty YouTuber Dawn Lee / Screenshot from Dawn Lee's Instagram
By Kwak Yeon-soo
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Dawn Lee, a popular beauty YouTuber whose real name was Lee Jung-joo, died of cancer, Sunday. She was 30.
The YouTuber's agency, Ice Creative, confirmed her death in a statement shared on Instagram.
“It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share the loss of my dear friend Dawn Lee this morning. She was a bright light in this world. I will always remember the courage and bravery she showed us while fighting cancer. Sending prayers your way,” the agency's CEO, Kim Eun-ha, wrote on Sunday.
Lee was diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in February 2019, and later announced publicly that the cancer was terminal. But she stayed positive as she vowed to fight the disease and shared the process on her YouTube channel.
She filmed makeup and hair styling tutorials, as well as a vlog to share her daily life and interact with her over 640,000 subscribers. She had an empowering effect through sharing her personal journey with chemotherapy, offering hope and courage to other cancer patients.
In November of last year, Lee appeared on SBS's talk show, “Bapsim,” sharing her experience battling stage-four lymphoma, and how her faith, her boyfriend and family helped her cope with the emotional impacts of the diagnosis and the treatment process.
“I was feeling severe pain in my armpits and the surrounding chest and arm area, which I later found out to be cancer in my lymph nodes. By the time I went to the hospital, I was already at stage 4. I underwent rounds of chemotherapy and had to shave my head,” she said during the show.
Beauty YouTuber Dawn Lee/ Korea Times file
In her last video uploaded on April 15, she said she heard devastating news from the hospital.
“In fact, not long ago, I heard some bad news at the hospital and had a mental breakdown. I was having a serious mental breakdown for two to three days. But I've decided not to worry about what hasn't happened yet and have a pleasant day today, stay healthy tomorrow, and stay happy the day after tomorrow,” she said in the video.
The news of Lee's death was met with condolences from her subscribers and fans around the globe.
“You fought so hard for so long, like a warrior. Thank you for sharing your journey with your followers. Rest well dearest Dawn, you're no longer in pain. We'll be praying for your friends and family during this time,” Nami Hollanderin wrote.
“The world is so much darker without our Dawn. We all love her so much, and I don't know when the tears will stop. I can only send love to Dawn's family and loved ones, and keep thinking that as long as we continue to speak her name and carry her with us, she is not really gone,” Lyndsey MacPherson wrote.
“This is devastating news, Dawn. You will be greatly missed, as the bright and beautiful soul you were. May you rest in peace and may your family find comfort in your positivity until the end and the videos you left us,” wrote Lilly Friedemann.
Lee's funeral service is being held at Samsung Medical Center in Ilwon-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul.