K-pop’s biggest stars, including remaining members of SHINee, carried their lost friend’s coffin at a very emotional funeral.
Kim Jong-hyun, who took his own life, was carried out by three of his former bandmates as an army of weeping fans lined the streets to say one last goodbye to their hero.
Jong-hyun was found unconscious in his flat at the beginning of the week in his luxury flat in the affluent Gangnam district in Seoul, he was quickly taken to hospital but unfortunately died.
The 27-year-old pop star left behind a suicide note which he gave to his best friend and fellow K-pop star Nine9. She was instructed by him to publish the note on Instagram in the event of his death.
His body was taken from the Asan Medical Centre in Seoul to an undisclosed funeral home where a private service took place. His coffin was carried by three members of his band, SHINee, and three members of the group Super Junior, another K-pop act managed by the same agency, reports the Daily Mail.
Kim’s funeral procession was led by another bandmate from SHINee who held a plaque which read ‘Kim Jong-Hyun, believer’, followed by Kim’s sister who was carrying a picture of her brother. His funeral was also attended by several prominent stars in K-pop including Girls’ Generation, EXO and Red Velvet.
A legion of fans who had been camping outside his hospital in Seoul, holding vigils for their hero for the past few days, lined the streets outside. Mainly made up of teenage girls, the crowds could be seen crying as the coffin was taken away.
According to Kim’s heartbreaking note, published on Nine9’s Instagram page, he had been suffering from depression and was struggling with living in the public eye.
His note explained he ‘was broken from the inside’ and how ‘the life of fame was never meant for me’.
It also read:
What else can I say more. Just tell me I’ve done well. That this is enough. That I’ve worked hard. Even if you can’t smile don’t fault me on my way.
A statement from Gangnam Police read:
On December 18, 2017 at 4:42PM Jonghyun’s older sister reported to Police that her brother was about to commit suicide.
We went to his residence in Chungdam and discovered that he had attempted to commit suicide.
Emergency responders were with us at the time so we rushed him to the Konkuk University Hospital in a state of cardiac arrest.
Before his tragic death, Kim was a member of the group SHINee which quickly became South Korea’s number one pop group. In 2008 they released their debut album The Shinee World. This was followed by four more albums, some of which reached number one on the US Billboard album charts.
Kim also had a successful solo career, his first solo album reached number one on the Billboard World Albums chart.
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