On October 14, 2019, just four days after World Mental Health Day, South Korean singer and actress Choi Jin-ri (or Sulli as she was better known) was found dead at her home in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

The 25-year-old star, who had recently made her solo debut in July, was reportedly discovered dead on the second floor of her home by her manager, who had been unable to contact her since their phone call the previous evening.

According to the police, Sulli has been battling with severe depression. In 2016, the former f(x) member was hospitalised for a wrist injury, which led to major speculation that she had slit her wrists in an attempted suicide. The star was also a victim of cyber-bullying, which she cites as the main reason why she quit the girl group.

South Korean actress Jeon Mi-seon, best known for her roles in Mother, Hide and Seek and The Moon Embracing The Sun, was found dead in an apparent suicide on June 29, 2019. She was 48.

Jeon was found hanged in the bathroom of her hotel room in Jeonju, South Korea, after going missing for two days. Police confirm that she had checked in for two days, and there was no suicide note. According to China Press, she called her father at around 2am, which was about 20 minutes before taking her life. The conversation led to many friends and relatives trying to reach her but it was already too late.

She had allegedly been receiving treatments for depression, revealed her agency, Boas Entertainment, in a public statement. Jeon had also recently lost a family member and her mother is bedridden due to an illness, which may have affected her emotionally.

One of her final public appearances was on June 25 in Seoul, to promote her new film The King’s Letters, released in July 2019.

On December 18, 2017, the K-pop singer/songwriter of boy group SHINee committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in a private hotel room in Seoul, South Korea. He was just 27.

The singer was said to have suffered from depression. He reportedly told his sister via text message that he had “suffered enough” and his alleged suicide note detailed his suffering with the illness and revealed that being a celebrity in South Korea was starting to take a toll on his mental health.

Actress Lee Eun Ju committed suicide on February 22 2005.

According to her family, the actress was said to have suffered from depression and mental illnesses. The actress was also said to have been body shamed for her role in The Scarlet Letter, where she appeared nude.

South Korean actress, Ha Ji Won’s brother has reportedly passed away due to his struggles with depression.

Jun Tae Soo was only 34 when he passed. While it’s not clear if he took his own life, his agency released a statement saying that the actor has long been suffering from depression and was hoping that he would return to the entertainment industry once he’s better.

Sadly, the star was said to have passed on on January 21, 2018.

Jang Ja Yeon was a Korean actress who stared in the popular KBS television drama series Boys Over Flowers.The 29-year-old wrote a series of suicide letters explaining how her former agency head Kim Sung Hun had forced her to meet influential figures at parties where she was expected to provide sexual favours for some of them.

“I was called to a bar and pressured to accept a request for a sexual relationship,” she reportedly wrote.Police said Jang’s older sister found her hanging on the banister of a staircase in their house in South Korea’s Gyeonggi province on March 7, 2009, and told police that her sister suffered from depression

Choi a popular actress who stared in several Korean box-office hits, including My Love, My Bridge (1990) and How To Top My Wife (1994), was found dead in her Seoul apartment on Oct 2, 2008.She was found with an elastic band around her neck tied to a shower stall, Yonhap news agency reported, quoting the police.

Although no formal suicide note was found, Choi, 39, a divorced mother of two, had sent her make-up assistant messages asking her to “take care of my children no matter what happens” and telling her that “I’m sorry”.Choi was said to have been upset over rumours on the Internet that she had lent a large sum of money to actor Ahn Jae Hwan, 36.

A year and a half after Choi Jin Sil’s death, her brother, Choi Jin Young too, took his own life.

Jin Young was said to have been depressed about his sister’s passing.

So Jin, a DSP Media trainee and member of girl group Baby Kara, was found unconscious in a garden of an apartment building in her home city of Daejeon in 2015. Korean Entertainment agency DSP Media confirmed that the 22-year-old’s death was from an apparent suicide.

Kim was an international Korean model who had worked alongside top designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander McQueen. She appeared on magazines like British Vogue and Dazed & Confused, and made her international catwalk debut at Paris Fashion Week in 2007.

But behind the glitz and glamour of the runway, Kim was an insecure, lonely and depressed figure who never felt a sense of belonging. The 20-year-old was found hanged in her central Paris apartment on Nov 19, 2009.

The Korean R&B singer was found hanging from a door frame by her grandmother in Incheon, South Korea.

While there was no suicide note, U;Nee was said to have suffered from depression and stress relating to the industry.

Da-Bin starred in many Korean dramas such as Rooftop Room Cat and He Was Cool. However, despite her cheery persona, the then 26 year-old actually suffered from depression and shared her thoughts on it on her blog.

The actress was said to have written about depression and loneliness on her blog.

If you or somebody you know is struggling with depression, seek help here:

Samaritans of Singapore (SOS): 1800-221-4444
Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH): 1800-283-7019
Tinkle Friend (for primary school students): 1800 2744 4788
Youth Line: 6336 3434
SAF Hotline (for SAF personnel): 1800 278 0022
eCounselling Centre (eC2): www.fycs.org/contact-us

Photo: TPG News

This post was first published on January 22, 2018, and updated on October 14, 2019.