Cha In Ha/InstagramK-Pop star and SURPRISE U actor Cha In Ha has died aged 27.
The South Korean celebrity’s body was found at his home earlier today, December 3, with police now investigating the cause of death, as reported by The Straits Times.
The 27-year-old’s agency confirmed the news, saying they are ‘filled with grief’.
A statement from the star’s showbiz agency Fantagio read:
We feel devastated to deliver such heartbreaking and unfortunate news. On December 3, actor Cha In Ha left our sides. We are truly heartbroken to deliver sad news to everyone who has sent lots of love and support to Cha In Ha until now. We are filled with grief at this news that is still hard to believe.
We earnestly ask for rumours to not be spread and for speculative reports to not be released in order for his family, who is experiencing greater sadness more than anyone due to the sudden sad news, to send him away peacefully.
The statement added his funeral will be held privately, ‘as wished by his family… we express deep mourning for his passing’.
Cha was relatively fresh in the South Korean entertainment scene – in 2017, he made his debut with Fantagio’s actor group SURPRISE U, and had since starred in dramas such as The Banker and Miss Independent Ji Eun 2. Most recently, he appeared in MBC drama Love With Flaws.
Cha’s death marks the third passing of a Korean performer in the space of three months. Sulli, a 25-year-old K-Pop star, was found dead in October – police said in a statement she had been suffering from ‘severe depression’.
Just last week, 28-year-old ex-Kara girl group member Goo Hara was found dead in her home – police ruled out foul play, confirming a note was also discovered at the scene.
PAThe K-Pop star reportedly tried to take her own life back in May this year. Her manager found her unconscious in her home after posting concerning messages online.
Some of the quotes read: ‘Acting as if I am not tired, when I am, Acting as if I am not in pain, when I am.’ Another read: ‘After living all those years with suppression, I look fine on the outside, but it feels as if I am starting to break into pieces inside.’
Commissioner Lee Yong Pyo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed they are not investigating Hara’s passing in relation to a crime.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.