We can now confirm that Korean pop star Jonghyun committed suicide on Monday.
As previously reported, the 27-year old was found unconscious in a Seoul hotel yesterday morning before rushed to a local hospital; he was pronounced dead there a short time later.
The cause of death was unknown at the time of this report, and it remains unknown now.
But there had been suspicions that Jonghyun took his own life because his sister told authorities that he had been acting in an unusual manner – and had also been sending her troubling text messages.
“Please let me go. Tell me I did well. Final farewell,” reads one of these messages.
About 24 hours after this tragic news broke, Jonghyun suicide’s note has actually been made available to the public.
“I am broken from inside,” wrote the singer, who as best known for serving as the frontman for boy band SHINee.
He went on to detail his internal battle and his struggle with stardom, writing:
“The depression that had been slowly eating me up finally devoured me and I couldn’t defeat it.”
This note was uploaded on the Instagram account of Nine, a musician with modern rock band Dear Cloud.
According to Nine’s management, the note was handed to her two weeks prior to Jonghyun’s death.
“Maybe I wasn’t supposed to come up against the world; maybe I wasn’t supposed to be known to the world,” continued to sad note.
“I’ve learned that’s what [makes my life] difficult. How come I chose that.”
The world of Korean music and entertainment is notoriously pressure-packed.
Over the years, ever since Korean-American singer Charles Park took his own life in 1996, numerous young stars in this industry have both killed themselves and left a note similar to that of Jonghyun’s.
Jonghyun was one of the most talented and beloved artists in K-pop, according to Paul Han, co-founder of allkpop, a site for K-pop gossip and news, which garners 10 million monthly readers worldwide.
He left SHINee in 2015 and has subsequently released two solo albums.
Said Han in the wake of this tragedy:
“He had a wonderful voice and was so versatile and composed beautiful music. He was an even better person and he will be forever missed.
“The world of K-pop has lost one of its brightest stars.”
Imagine the reaction in America if Harry Styles killed himself and you’d have an idea of the impact being felt across Korea right now.
Local police say Jonghyun’s family had not requested an autopsy.
The artist, who played concerts in the United States this past spring, was mourned by fans at Asan Hospital Tuesday, ahead of a funeral that the family has requested to be held “as quietly as possible,” according to SM Entertainment.
Concluded his suicide note:
“The blues that slowly ate at me has finally swallowed me whole. I couldn’t overcome.
“I hated myself. Holding on to disappearing memories and screaming at it to wake up. There was no answer. If I can’t breathe, it’s better to stop.”
We can only hope the young singer has finally found the peace in death he could not find in life.
A post on SM Entertainment’s social media page reads as follows:
“Jonghyun is the best artist who loved music more than anyone else, enjoyed the stage, and loved to communicate with fans through his music.
“We will always remember you.”
