Moonbin of ASTRO dies: the K-pop star allegedly committed suicide

Moonbin, the K-Pop star and member of the group Astro, died in an apparent suicide at the age of 25, South Korean police said on Thursday and confirmed by the young man’s 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 asked to fans to avoid “harmful speculation and reporting”.

According to police, Moonbin was found dead in his south Seoul apartment by his representative on Wednesday at 20:10 (1110 GMT). and they believe he could have committed suicide when they found no evidence of a struggle.

“We know Moonbin lived alone in his home. Although we believe he committed suicide, we are also considering performing an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death,” an agent who declined to be named told South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The singer made his debut in 2016 with the Astro sextet, of which he was mainly vocalist and dancer, a group known for classics such as “Crazy Sexy Cool”, “Baby”, “Confession” or the more recent “Candy Sugar Pop”, this latest with over 41 million views on YouTube.

Moonbin’s death once again highlights the enormous pressure K-Pop celebrities face and the limited resources available to them 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 lead singer of the SHINee group, which shook the foundations of the industry when he took his own life in December 2017 at the age of 27.

In 2019 the K-Pop actress and singer known as Sulli committed suicide at the age of 25 after suffering intense cyberbullying campaigns and in the same year the singer Goo Ha-ra also took her own life, leaving a note in which he said he felt “very pessimistic” about his life, after receiving threats from an old partner.