Moon Bin, a member of popular K-Pop group Astro, died Wednesday aged 25.
Astro’s label ad management company Fantagio confirmed the young singer’s death in a statement following reports that Moon Bin had been found dead in his Seoul apartment by a manager.
A cause of death was not given.
“First, we apologize for having to convey this sorrowful and heartbreaking news. On April 19, Astro member Moon Bin suddenly left us and has now become a star in the sky,” Fantagio’s statement reads, according to Rolling Stone magazine.
“Although it cannot compare to the grief of the bereaved family that had to part with their beloved son and brother, his fellow artists and the staff here at Fantagio, who have been together with him for a long time, are also deeply mourning the departed amid tremendous shock and sorrow,” the statement continued.
“It pains us even more to have to convey this sudden news to the fans who have given their unsparing love and support to Moon Bin. Because we know all too well just how unparalleled the departed [Moon Bin] was in his love for his fans, whom he was constantly thinking of, the grief is all the more overwhelming.”
Moon Bin began his career as a child model and actor, appearing in music videos and the popular K-drama, Boys Over Flowers. Early on, he signed a deal with Fantagio and rose through the ranks of the company’s training program, which is how he became a member of Astro. The group’s first project was a web series, To Be Continued, after which they started focusing on music, releasing their debut EP, Spring Up, in 2016.
Over the next three years, Moon Bin worked on various TV projects while Astro released a string of increasingly popular EPs, culminating in the arrival of their 2019 debut album, All Light, which topped the charts in Korea. Later that year, however, Fantagio announced that Moon Bin would take a temporary hiatus from Astro due to unspecified health problems.
Moon Bin’s untimely death follows that of other artists in the K-pop genre.
Goo Hara dies in 2019 after having been abused by an ex-boyfriend who, after they split, blackmailed her over their sex video.
The suspected suicide occurred a month after her close friend and fellow K-pop star Sulli committed suicide after a long struggle with online bullying.
In 2018, 33-year-old Minwoo of boy band 100% passed away, with his label only saying he had suffered cardiac arrest.
Just over three months earlier, K-pop group CHINee’s lead singer Jonghyun died by a suspected suicide at the age of 27.
