K-pop singer Jonghyun's death turns spotlight on pressures of stardom
Shinee lead singer, who died in hospital on Monday, said he felt ‘broken from inside’ in note made public day after his death
A harrowing note left by the K-pop singer Kim Jong-hyun, who has died in a suspected suicide, has highlighted the pressures facing young people in South Korea’s intensely competitive entertainment industry.
Kim, the lead singer of the boy band Shinee, died in hospital in Seoul on Monday after he was found unconscious in his apartment.
Better known as Jonghyun, he had attracted a huge following in his native country and across Asia both as a band member and solo artist, and was among the most marketable figures in K-pop, South Korea’s most successful cultural export.
