Boy Band ASTRO: K-pop star Moonbin dies in suspected suicide

Moon Bin – who performed as Moonbin – has died at the age of 25, his music label Fantagio announced in a statement posted early Thursday on its official Twitter page.

The K-pop star was found unresponsive by his manager on Wednesday evening in his apartment in Seoul’s Gangnam neighbourhood, local media reported, quoting the police.

Although Moon Bin appears to have taken his own life, they are waiting for the autopsy results to find the exact cause of death, police said.

Moon Bin became a part of the Fantagio trainee program at an early age. He had been an actor and model before debuting with the boy band ASTRO in 2016. The well-established K-pop group originally used to have six performers, but one member left in February this year.

Moon Bin was part of the widely famous K-drama ‘Boys Over Flowers’ from 2009, playing the younger self of actor Kim Bum’s character. In addition to becoming an ASTRO member, he also debuted as a member of its first subunit, Moonbin and Sanha, in 2020.

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The statement from his record label asked everyone to “refrain from speculative and malicious reports” so that his family can mourn in privacy.

Moon Bin’s sister Moon Sua is also a K-pop singer, performing as a member of the girl group Billlie.

He is the latest K-pop star to lose their life in recent times. While Goo Hara was found dead at her Seoul residence in 2019, her close friend Sulli killed herself the same year following a long struggle with online bullying. While Minwoo from 100% died in 2018, with his label blaming cardiac arrest, SHINee’s lead singer Jonghyun potentially took his own life earlier in 2017.

Among all developed countries, South Korea has the highest rate of youth suicide. While the overall suicide rate in the country is dropping, the number of people in their 20s found dead in suspected suicides is rising. The government, meanwhile, is putting in substantial efforts to dramatically reduce the number of suicides.

Is South Korea’s hyper-competitive society to be blamed for the alarming figures?