K-pop star and ASTRO member Moon Bin passes away at 25, police suspect suicide

South Korean singer, actor, dancer, and model Moon Bin who was professionally known as Moonbin, founded dead in his home by his manager at around 8.10 AM on Wednesday, April 19, in the Gangnam district of Seoul. 

Moon Bin’s label Fantagio Music released a statement on Thursday confirming his death. The cause of the death was not mentioned in the statement though. However, the police suspect that Moon Bin took his own life.

Moon Bin’s debut as child model

Moon Bin made his debut as a child model and ulzzang in 2004 under the influence of his mother. His first recorded performance was in the 2006 music video for the song “Balloons” by TVXQ, where he played a miniature version of U-Know Yunho.

In the 2009 Korean drama Boys over Flowers, he made his acting debut as the younger version of Kim Bum’s character.

Since he was in the fifth grade, Moon Bin has been a trainee of Fantagio, later graduating to the level of full-fledged student in middle school. He took part in the male group project for the business called iTeen, and he was the second trainee to receive the Fantagio iTeen Photo Test Cut.

Before making his debut with Astro, Moon Bin along with the rest of the group starred in a web drama, titled To Be Continued.

A look at the dark side of the K-pop industry

K-pop industry is quite famous now among all age groups. It is winning hearts across the world because of its covering music charts, breaking records, emerging into the Western entertainment industry, and others.

Most people, however, are unaware of the challenging lives many Korean pop singers have led in the past and even in the present. Kids and early adolescents participate in competitive auditions with average competitive rates of 700:1 before ever having the option to train with entertainment businesses, according to media reports.

In recent years, many young K-pop stars have died including Goo Hara who passed in 2019. She had been abused by an ex-boyfriend who, after they split, blackmailed her over their sex videos. After a month of her death which was suspected suicide, Hara’s close friend, K-pop star Sulli, took her own life after a long struggle with online bullying, prompting demands in South Korea for stronger punishments for cybercrimes.