A 26-year-old South Korean actress has been found dead in Seoul, the latest young death to strike the country’s controversial show-business industry.
Song Yoo-jung died on Saturday and a small funeral was held in accordance with her family’s wishes, her agency confirmed.
‘Actress Song Yoo-jung has left us,’ Sublime Agency said today. ‘Yoo-jung was a friend who always gave us happiness with a bright smile, and an awesome actress who acted with a passion bigger than anyone.’
Yoo-jung made her name with a starring role in TV drama Make A Wish and won lucrative commercial deals with cosmetics company Estee Lauder and American ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins.
Her death yet again raises concerns about the intense glare of the limelight in Korea’s television and K-Pop culture, particularly for young women who are picked up by agencies at a young age and face vicious shaming on social media.
There was an outpouring of grief from fans on Yoo-jung’s last Instagram post today. Three weeks ago she posted a photograph of herself beaming at the camera.
Fans left heartfelt messages on her final Instagram post
Breakout: She appeared as Han Da-Won in the series Make A Wish and her true breakout came in 2019 with the web series Dear My Name
There was an outpouring of grief from fans on Yoo-jung’s last Instagram post today.
Three weeks ago she posted a photograph of herself beaming at the camera.
‘Behind every smile there’s a hidden story that no one knows. I wish you rest in peace and heal from whatever you were fighting,’ one comment said.
She made her acting debut six years ago and had found recent success starring in the hugely popular romantic drama, Dear My Name.
Yoo-jung played an architecture student searching for her soulmate.
Aside from her acting work, she was an advocate for people with disabilities, working for an initiative called Warm Accompaniment.
She is the latest young Korean actress to die at the height of her fame.
In November 2019, K-Pop singer and actress Goo Hara was found dead at her apartment in Seoul’s affluent Cheongdam-dong area, six months after trying to kill herself.
She had posted a haunting ‘good night’ message on Instagram just hours before her death.
The month before Hara died, Sulli, a former girl band singer and close friend of the singer’s was found dead at her home after battling ‘severe depression.’
Sulli had suffered online abuse in what became known as the ‘no-bra’ scandal after she showed her nipples on social media.
It was reported that she had been forced to suspend her music career because of the abuse she had received in conservative South Korea.
K-pop stars like Hara and Sulli are picked up by agencies at a young age – usually in their early or mid-teens – and their lives then taken over by gruelling singing and dancing training.
Taboos about mental illness dissuade many South Koreans from seeking help.
Suicides: In recent years, there have been a rash of suicides among K-pop artists, including singers Kim Jong-hyun in 2017
Mourning: The South Korean entertainment community is in mourning, as they mourn the loss of rising star Song Yoo-jung
Their deaths echoed that of fellow K-pop star Kim Jong-Hyun, who took his life in 2017 after battling with depression.
The 27-year-old Shinee band member left a heartbreaking final message, writing: ‘I’m broken from the inside … The depression that has slowly eaten away at me has finally consumed me, and I couldn’t beat it.’
His death caused grief to millions of fans around the world and focused scrutiny on the Korean pop music industry.
Many Korean stars face tremendous pressure to look and behave perfectly in an industry powered by so-called ‘fandoms’ – groups of well-organised admirers who spend enormous amounts of time and money to help their favoured stars climb up the charts and attack their perceived rivals.
In return, the stars are expected to tread carefully in an industry where today’s most-fervent fans can be tomorrow’s most vicious critics if their idols fail to meet their expectations – or ‘betray’ them.
Advocate: Aside from her acting work, she was an advocate for people with disabilities, serving as an advocate for a South Korean initiative dubbed Warm Accompaniment
Commercials: The actress started her career as a performer when she was 20 years old, appearing in commercials for Estee Lauder, Baskin-Robbins and numerous music videos
Drug use or drunken driving are seen as career-breakers, while behaviour that causes a ‘stir’ – anything from a social media gaffe to a failure to smile ceaselessly at public appearances – could be criticised for years.
Many are constantly chased by paparazzi and camera-touting fans who share or sell every single detail and images of the stars’ daily lives online for public scrutiny.
Such challenges are common among celebrities around the world, but are amplified in hyper-wired South Korea, which has some of the world’s fastest internet speeds and highest smartphone usage, and a society where pressure to conform is high.
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