Moonbin, a superfamous K-Pop star, has died of suspected suicide, prompting mass mourning from a fiercely loyal fanbase. He was 25.
Sophia Ankel
- K-Pop superstar Moonbin died on Wednesday evening, his record label announced.
- Police have said the star died of suspected suicide, though an autopsy is still underway.
Moonbin, a member of the South Korean K-pop band Astro, has died at the age of 25, his music label announced on Thursday.
"On April 19, Astro member Moon Bin unexpectedly left our world and became a star in the sky," the record label, Fantagio, tweeted in Korean on Thursday, according to Sky News.
"Although we cannot compare our sorrow to the grief that the bereaved families are feeling, losing a beloved son and brother, the Astro members, fellow Fantagio artists, company executives, and employees are mourning the deceased in great sadness and shock," the statement said.
The superstar was found unresponsive in his apartment in the Gangnam neighborhood of the capital Seoul, The Guardian reported, citing local media.
Police said the superstar, whose legal name is Moon Bin, "appears to have taken his own life" but said an autopsy is still underway.
Source: BBC
Moonbin has been in Korean showbiz since an early age, making his acting debut at the age of 11 in a popular drama series called "Boys Over Flowers."
His sister, Moon Sua, is also part of a K-Pop all-girl group called Billlie. The siblings were very close.
Source: BBC
In 2016, when Moonbin was only 18 years old, he joined a popular South Korean boy band called Astro.
Astro was originally a six-member group that included singers MJ, Jinjin, Cha Eun-woo, Yoon San-ha, Moonbin, and Rocky.
Rocky left the group in February this year.
The group exploded onto the scene with their five-song album "Spring Up" which led them to be named among the best new K-Pop acts of 2016 by Billboard Magazine.
They also had their own reality show, called Astro OK! Ready, which ran in 2016.
They were meant to perform in Jakarta, Indonesia, next month, but their show has been canceled, event promoter Lumina Entertainment tweeted Thursday.
Astro has a massive fan base, which they refer to as "arohas."
Source: Aroha Fandom
He also performed with a sub-group called Moonbin & Sanha, where he performed with fellow band member Yoon San-Ha.
But in 2019, Moonbin's record label announced the star would be going on a hiatus to recover from health issues. They did not elaborate on what kind of health issues he had.
When asked in a 2022 Cosmopolitan interview, about what he would do if he were an angel, Moonbin responded: "I want to give one more chance to those who died by suicide.
"Even though we don't know what happens in our life, we don't always live our lives thinking about death," he added. Even having happy thoughts like what to eat today and what to wear tomorrow is enough to occupy a whole day, so to see someone ending their lives is so tragic and sorry."
His death has come as a shock to many and has prompted an outpouring of grief.
After his death was announced, the hashtag #moonbin on Twitter was trending globally with over 2.6 million tweets, CNN reported.
A photo on social media shows people laying tributes to the singer in Seoul, South Korea.
His death also became the most searched topic on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, MailOnline reported.
It has also shed light again on a mental health crisis in the South Korean entertainment industry. Several prominent K-Pop stars have died by suicide in the last few years.
Singer and actress Goo Hara was found dead at her home in Seoul in 2019 while her close friend, K-Pop star Sulli killed herself in the same year, according to The Guardian
Actor Cha In-ha was also found dead at his home in Seoul in 2019, the BBC reported. He was 27 years old.
Suicide is among the leading causes of death for young people in South Korea, according to recent government figures.
The country itself also has the highest suicide rate among developed countries, The Telegraph reported.
Their deaths have largely been blamed on the intense pressure many South Korean stars receive to look and sound perfect and to regularly produce hit songs.
"It's crazy how they have these guys under a microscope," Rob Schwartz, an Asia correspondent for Billboard Magazine, told the BBC.
"Certainly, stars in the West can more or less keep who they're dating a secret. In the K-pop world, it's impossible to keep a secret. Every time they lift a foot, thousands of lines are written about it."
Schwartz added: "K-pop artists don't really have a life outside being a pop star. They start training at a very young age. They don't go to school or make regular friends. It's really hard for them to see life outside the K-pop world."
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