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| A photo of the late Jonghyun of SHINee is seen at a memorial service at Asan Medical Center in southeastern Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
Driving a fancy car, living in a luxury house, dating a popular actress ? it all looked like Jonghyun had it all on the outside. But the singer of popular K-pop band SHINee committed suicide at age 28 after suffering severe depression.
According to a message Jonghyun sent to his friend Nine of the rock band "Dear Cloud," which the rocker revealed on social media Tuesday with the permission of Jonghyun's family, Jonghyun struggled living as a celebrity.
"I was broken on the inside. Depression that had slowly been nibbling me away has finally devoured me and I could not overcome it," Jonghyun wrote.
"Maybe it was not for me to live with popularity. It was hard because of it. Why did I choose it? Funny thing. Such a brave one that I held out so far."
It is unknown when Nine received the message from Jonghyun, but the rocker sent it to Jonghyun's family immediately after receiving it. Nine and Jonghyun became close friends after they met at Jonghyun's MBC radio program "Blue Night, I am Jonghyun."
Jonghyun was found dead Monday.
The singer's sister reported Jonghyun's disappearance to the police at 4:42 p.m., saying he might have harmed himself. Police found him at a studio he rented for two days in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul. Rescuers conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the spot and brought him to the nearest hospital but he did not survive.
Those close to him saw warning signs in Jonghyun's behavior, but his death surprised the singer's fans. The singer had appeared at solo concerts on Dec. 9 and 10 and starred in two TV shows recently.
Jonghyun received counseling for depression
Jonghyun debuted under the management of S.M. Entertainment, one of Korea's biggest entertainment companies. It adopts a fairly efficient system to deal with singers' mental health. Counselors are stationed in the agency to deal with singers suffering from depression and they can take the entertainers to psychiatrists if needed. There is also a mentoring system that helps junior singers ask senior singers for advice. But none of the above worked for Jonghyun.
"I thought becoming a doctor was very easy when he kept blaming my personality with a soft voice," Jonghyun wrote in his message to Nine. "Why do you keep telling me to find out why I am having a hard time? I told you several times already. Do you need more specific drama or a bigger story that can justify my depression?"
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| Fans visit the funeral hall at Asan Medical Center in southeastern Seoul to pay their condolences to the late SHINee member Jonghyun, Tuesday. Fans can pay tribute at the hospital's funeral hall room no. 3. Yonhap |
Celebrities are always compared to somebody and it takes a huge amount of stress to maintain their popularity even after they rise to stardom. They have no private life too and losing popularity brings more stress. If they have no popularity at all, entertainers feel despair that the world doesn't recognize them.
Korean celebrities, particularly, are under heavier stress as their agency puts them under strict micromanagement. Before and after debuting, K-pop idols are banned from using personal mobile phones or dating other K-pop singers. K-pop bands have a full-time schedule when their new album is released and popular bands get less than five hours of sleep a night on average. Recently, singer Daniel Kang of Wanna One was hospitalized after he blacked out due to exhaustion. He had reportedly slept three hours a day since his June debut.
In Korea, celebrities are put under strict ethical standards and sometimes it applies a higher morality to celebrities than it does on politicians or religious leaders. Singers suffer badly from criticism posted online.
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