On April 19 at around 8:10 pm KST, ASTRO’s Moonbin was found dead at his residence in Gangnam, Seoul, by his manager. The K-pop fandom is currently in heartbreak, pouring condolences on Twitter. The idol was only 25 years old and was in the middle of his DIFFUSION Fan Con Tour with Sanha as part of their subunit promotions.
Trigger warning: Mentions of suicide
The heartbreaking news was first shared by Yonhap News. It was reported that the cause of death was suicide. He was reportedly unresponsive when found by his manager, who immediately called for help. An autopsy is yet to be performed.
Seoul Gangnam Police Station shared the following statement:
"It appears that Moonbin took his own life. We are currently discussing the possibility of an autopsy to determine the precise cause of death."
K-pop fans send condolences as ASTRO member Moonbin reportedly dies by suicide
The K-pop fandom is in complete disbelief as ASTRO’s Moonbin was found dead by his manager at his house in Seoul on April 19. The news left fans in utter shock as the 25-year-old was recently seen dancing to KAI’s Rover challenge and had greeted fans happily at the previous stops of DIFFUSION Fan Con Tour.
'Moonbin' took the top spot on Twitter’s worldwide trends as fans poured out their condolences. ASTRO’s fandom, AROHAs, expressed their heartbreaking emotions with messages filled with love.
Fans shared clips of the 25-year-old ASTRO member's smile, moments from his tour, his time with the group, and more. They also offered their heartfelt condolences to Moon Sua (his younger sister and K-pop group Billlie member), family, and ASTRO members.
The 25-year-old artist was in a subunit with fellow member Sanha. The duo recently made a comeback with their third EP, Incense, in January 2023. Incense was a successful album release for them, as it sold 116k copies in the first month of its release.
The duo, along with Cha Eun-woo and Jinjin, also renewed their contracts with Fantagio in the same month. The 25-year-old idol was also confirmed to perform at the upcoming 2023 Dream concert with Sanha scheduled for May.
Born on January 26, 1998, Moonbin debuted as a child model in 2004. One of his earliest known appearances was in TVXQ’s Balloons music video released in 2006, in which he played U-know’s younger version. He also gained attention for his role in the classic K-drama, Boys over Flowers. He debuted with ASTRO in 2016.
The Candy Sugar Pop singer joined hands with Fantagio when he was in the fifth grade, and has worked with them ever since. He wore many hats and was considered a multi-talented artist since he was a dancer, singer, rapper, actor, and model.