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K-pop idol Moonbin’s death highlights need to address high suicide rate in Korea
Entertainment
Celebrities
K-pop idol Moonbin’s death highlights need to address high suicide rate in Korea
K-pop idol Moonbin’s death highlights need to address high suicide rate in Korea
Published Apr 20, 2023 03:44 am
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Updated Apr 20, 2023 03:44 am
The sudden death of K-pop boy band ASTRO member Moonbin, 25, highlights the need to address the high suicide rate in South Korea.
Based on 2021 data from the Korean Statistical Information Service, suicide rate in South Korea is 26 per 100,000 population.
(Clockwise from top left) ASTRO's Moonbin, f(x)'s Sulli, KARA's Goo Hara and SHINee's Jonghyun (Instagram, Twitter)
Among Korean males, the suicide rate is 35.9 per 100,000 population, more than twice compared to 16.2 per 100,000 for women. The suicide rate in South Korea is the highest among countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD 2020 data from OECD showed South Korea had a suicide rate of 24.1 per 100,000 population. Placing second is Lithuania with 20.3 per 100,000 followed by Slovenia with 15.7. World Bank data showed South Korea had the fourth highest suicide mortality rate of 28.6 per 100,000 population in the world in 2019 after Lesotho, Guyana and Eswatini. [Moonbin was found dead in an apparent suicide](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/k-pop-star-moonbin-of-boy-band-astro-found-dead-at-home) at about 8:10 p.m. KST on April 19 at his home in Gangnam, Seoul. He was found by his manager who reported it to the police. “It is believed that Moonbin took his own life. We are discussing conducting an autopsy to investigate the exact cause of death,” the Seoul Gangnam Police said, Korean media reported. [Fantagio, ASTRO's agency, confirmed his death](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/agency-issues-statement-on-the-death-of-k-pop-boy-band-astro-member-moonbin). Moonbin was the brother Moon Sua, a [member of K-pop girl group Billlie](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/k-pop-girl-group-billlie-suspends-activities-due-to-astro-member-moonbin-s-death). His funeral will be held at 8 a.m. KST on April 22. Jonghyun, a member of K-pop boy band SHINee, died on Dec. 18, 2017 at age 17. He left a suicide note to a friend. “I am broken from the inside. Depression, which was eating me away, has devoured me in the end, and I could not beat it,” he wrote in a letter he asked friend Nine9 of band Dear Cloud to upload after his death, according to KBS World. Sulli, a former member of girl group (f)x, was found dead at her home in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea on Oct. 14, 2019. She was 25. Her close friend, Goo Hara of girl group KARA, was found dead on Nov. 24, 2019 at her home in Cheongdam, Gangnam in Seoul. She was 28. Last week, the South Korean government announced plans to implement mental health checkups once every two years to address the high suicide rate in the country, the Korea Times reported. The government plan is aimed at lowering the suicide rate in South Korea from 24.1 per 100,000 people in 2021 to 18.2 per 100,000 people by 2027. The report stated that Koreans aged 20 to 70 will undergo mental health checkups every other year to early detect mental problems including depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
(Clockwise from top left) ASTRO's Moonbin, f(x)'s Sulli, KARA's Goo Hara and SHINee's Jonghyun (Instagram, Twitter)
Among Korean males, the suicide rate is 35.9 per 100,000 population, more than twice compared to 16.2 per 100,000 for women. The suicide rate in South Korea is the highest among countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD 2020 data from OECD showed South Korea had a suicide rate of 24.1 per 100,000 population. Placing second is Lithuania with 20.3 per 100,000 followed by Slovenia with 15.7. World Bank data showed South Korea had the fourth highest suicide mortality rate of 28.6 per 100,000 population in the world in 2019 after Lesotho, Guyana and Eswatini. [Moonbin was found dead in an apparent suicide](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/k-pop-star-moonbin-of-boy-band-astro-found-dead-at-home) at about 8:10 p.m. KST on April 19 at his home in Gangnam, Seoul. He was found by his manager who reported it to the police. “It is believed that Moonbin took his own life. We are discussing conducting an autopsy to investigate the exact cause of death,” the Seoul Gangnam Police said, Korean media reported. [Fantagio, ASTRO's agency, confirmed his death](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/agency-issues-statement-on-the-death-of-k-pop-boy-band-astro-member-moonbin). Moonbin was the brother Moon Sua, a [member of K-pop girl group Billlie](https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/20/k-pop-girl-group-billlie-suspends-activities-due-to-astro-member-moonbin-s-death). His funeral will be held at 8 a.m. KST on April 22. Jonghyun, a member of K-pop boy band SHINee, died on Dec. 18, 2017 at age 17. He left a suicide note to a friend. “I am broken from the inside. Depression, which was eating me away, has devoured me in the end, and I could not beat it,” he wrote in a letter he asked friend Nine9 of band Dear Cloud to upload after his death, according to KBS World. Sulli, a former member of girl group (f)x, was found dead at her home in Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea on Oct. 14, 2019. She was 25. Her close friend, Goo Hara of girl group KARA, was found dead on Nov. 24, 2019 at her home in Cheongdam, Gangnam in Seoul. She was 28. Last week, the South Korean government announced plans to implement mental health checkups once every two years to address the high suicide rate in the country, the Korea Times reported. The government plan is aimed at lowering the suicide rate in South Korea from 24.1 per 100,000 people in 2021 to 18.2 per 100,000 people by 2027. The report stated that Koreans aged 20 to 70 will undergo mental health checkups every other year to early detect mental problems including depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.