Moonbin, a member of the k-pop group Astro, has died in an apparent suicide at the age of 25, according to the South Korean Police this past Wednesday, April 19. A terrible event that was later confirmed by the young artist's representation agency, Fantagio, on their social networks.
"On the 19th, Moonbin left us and became a star in the sky. It breaks our hearts to have to give this news to his fans who have always loved and supported him," Fantagio said in a statement posted on Twitter, where he also they asked fans to avoid "malicious speculation and reporting".
According to the team from the Gangnam neighborhood police station in the capital, Moonbin was found dead in his apartment by his representative on Wednesday at around eight o'clock in the evening, when he came alerted for not having shown up for rehearsals with his cluster. According to the police, the young man showed signs of having taken his own life, but they stated that they would wait for the results of the autopsy.
"It seems that Moonbin took his own life. We are currently evaluating the possibility of carrying out an autopsy to determine the exact cause of his death," an agent, who preferred not to be named, told the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The young artist was scheduled to perform next May with his groupmate Sanha at the Dream Concert festival. Performance that has been cancelled.
"Moonbin's family, which is deeply saddened by the sudden and unfortunate news, wishes to hold the funeral in private," the representation agency explains, "They wish that the entire funeral process, from the wake to the departure of the procession funeral, be held in privacy from reporters, and bereaved family members do not want coverage of those in mourning. We sincerely ask you to make your last trip a beautiful one and we sincerely ask for your deepest condolences."
From their representation agency, they ask for respect and privacy for both Moonbin's family -his sister, Moon Sua, is part of the k-pop group Billie- and for the other members of Astro: MJ, Jinjin, Cha Eun-woo , Yoon San-ha and Rocky (who left the group just a few months ago); who are totally shocked by the news.
From a very young age, under the influence of his mother, Moonbin began a promising career as a model, participating in all kinds of fashion advertising campaigns and music videos. In 2009 he would get his first major role on television, in the k-drama Boys Over Flowers.
Represented by the Fantagio agency since he was just a child, the artist made his debut in 2016 with the Astro sextet, of which he was mainly the vocalist and dancer, and who achieved success with songs like Candy Sugar Pop.
Moonbin's death once again highlights the enormous pressure K-Pop celebrities face and the few resources at their disposal to deal with these situations.
In recent years, there have been several high-profile cases of this situation, such as the suicide of Kim Jong-hyun, former singer of the SHINee group, who shook the foundations of the industry when he took his own life in December 2017 at the age of 27.
In 2019, actress and singer Sulli committed suicide at the age of 25 after suffering intense cyberbullying campaigns, and in the same year, Goo Ha-ra also took her own life, leaving a note saying she felt "very pessimistic" about regarding his life, after suffering threats from an old partner.
