SEOUL (ANN): Actress-singer Sulli, who was found dead at her home on Monday (Oct 14), will have a private funeral.
Her agency, SM Entertainment, said the venue will not be disclosed in order to keep fans and reporters away.
Asking the media to accept this arrangement with a "generous heart", it added that her family wants "Sulli's last journey" to be "beautiful".
According to the Seongnam Fire Department, the 25-year-old former member of South Korean girl group f(x) was already dead when paramedics arrived on the scene.
It had sent an ambulance to her home when it received a call from Sulli's manager at 3.20pm on Monday. He could not contact her after they last spoke the day before.
The paramedics noted that she showed signs of cardiac arrest and the case was handed over to the police.
According to JTBC's News Room, the police have found a notepad filled with Sulli's handwritten comments about her life, at her home.
The property showed no signs of a break-in by outsiders.
It is believed that Sulli was working up to the day before her death, having been scheduled to shoot an advertisement for bag brand Stretch Angels.
Her death, netizens noted, is yet another example of a K-pop artist succumbing to the intense pressures of the industry.
A recent report in trade publication Hollywood Reporter noted: "Thousands of wannabe K-pop stars compete at regular American Idol-style cattle calls. Those lucky enough to make it to the next level spend years learning their craft inside secretive K-pop training camps, where they're sometimes subjected to dangerous diets, strict social rules (no dating), gruelling rehearsal schedules and mandated plastic surgery and skin-whitening procedures."
"In 2017, the industry drew intense scrutiny after (Jonghyun), a member of Shinee, took his own life, writing in his suicide note that he felt 'broken on the inside'."
Sulli's death has led to other artists pressing the pause button for now, with Amber Liu, her bandmate in f(x), tweeting that she is suspending upcoming activities.
Boy group Super Junior axed their comeback live broadcast on Monday and boy band SuperM put on hold work on the SuperM The Beginning show.
Sulli's friends have poured their feelings online.
Former Kara member Goo Ha-ra, who herself was warded in May after her manager found her unconscious at home, wrote: "In that world, I hope she can do whatever she wants."
Actor Ahn Jae-hyun, who is locked in a bitter divorce fight with his wife Ku Hye-sun, posted: "It's not real right? I have no grasp of reality because I take too much medicine, I'm the one who is strange right?"
The health of celebrities in the competitive world of Korean entertainment is a cause for concern among fans who have blasted their management agencies for not taking adequate care of their artists.
Meanwhile, fans, who believe that Sulli was affected by hate messages, are starting a petition, asking the government to mandate that netizens use their real names when they post comments.
Sulli took a break from show business in 2014 due to hate comments and rumours.
Mina, a member of popular girl group Twice, and girl group Momoland's Yeonwoo were also in the news recently over their battles with anxiety disorder.
On other fronts, the Korean entertainment industry has been rocked from January this year with a constant stream of revelations about alleged drug use, bribery and sexual misbehaviour by artists, from former BigBang singer Seungri to former FT Island member Choi Jong-hoon. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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