I’m going to say this – this young woman was taken too early from life because of the words of thousands and tens of thousands of K-netizens piled onto whatever emotional and mental demons she was battling. SM Entertainment‘s most tabloid targeted idol-actress Sulli (Choi Jin Ri) was found dead in the wee morning hours of October 14th. Her manager last spoke to her around 6 pm on October 13th and when she did not respond further went with the police to her apartment around 3:30 am where they discovered Sulli already deceased. The official report is suicide and for a 25-year old girl to just take her own life there must have been so much weighing her down. Even if she were as wild, crazy, and weird as K-netizens loved to rag on her for, she was ultimately just someone trying to be herself which happened to be in the public eye hence she got so much flack. Rest in peace, and know that there will never be weird articles written about you anymore where people who don’t know you spend hours criticizing your choices.
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Oh Nooooiii, what’s wrong with k-ent, she is so young, so fresh and pretty. She looks beautiful in hotel de Luna, .
Seriously how low human beings can still fall....
Extremely sad news to hear. May she Rest In Peace.
R.I.P You sweet, dear girl. It's unimaginable how she received hate for the smallest things like pushing the envelope. It's such a shame she's gone.
I feel angry, how many more victims that are enough to feed those hungry tabloids and k - net bullies. Karma has it, if you don’t have any nice to say, it’s better not to say anything at all.
:( this is so sad. I remember that even here on this blog, there were people who were pushing the envelope with their ungraceful comments here when there were news on her. People need to mind their words.
This happens way too much in the business in South Korea.Something is terribly wrong when this now happens on a regular basis and the cries for help seem to be going unheard.Take a good look at yourself as a society and protect your people for goodness sake you can do better as a people. May she rest in peace and God bless her.
Honestly I'm not surprised with this news as I knew this would happen someday. This poor girl was getting such harsh criticism and flak for being who she was and whatever she was doing. EIP Sulli.. Run freely.
A girl whose parents were divorced so soon, who entered SM only at age 10, who debuted only when she was 11, who was considered top visual of her generation and got too much positive and negative attention for it, who suffered from depression for quiet long time, who was acting quiet disoriented for quiet a while, who dated a much older man and also got hate for it, who posted crying pics on her ig --- there were so many red flags but unfortunately nobody cared.
She had no family support, her agency didn't look for counseling, her 'friends' didn't share her burden. Even with too much fame and money you are truly alone in entertainment industry. Seems like K-ent is one of the most s****y industry in the world with all their toxic 'image' and 'fan' culture.
She is gone so we can't do anything for her but let's save them who are still with us.
I hope soemone looks ,for Taeyeon. She has been looking lost for quiet a while. It's even more worrisome that she was friends with Lee Jong Hyun as well as Sulli both of whom chose to end it instead of enduring.
His name is (was) Kim Jong Hyun, Not Lee Jong Hyun. I hope you respect the name of the past person. I'm just saying.
@koorie It was a typo. I didn't mean to disrespect anybody.
Agree Koorie. I hope this situation makes us all mindful to not judge and be so condemning on others.
Oops meant this on Abc thread.
@Dear, I understand your pain but saying that she has no support is cruel to her family, friends and yes, her agency too. It is clear that SM has been supporting her career through ups and downs. Sulli said herself SM is like a family to her. Her brother said on TV he was proud of her. She has friends on her side, like IU, Heechul, Taeyeon. Those people adored her will suffer the most. We, outsiders will never understand.
But there are pains too deep and complicated to understand. Love is not enough for Sulli to stay. I don't know. Jonghyun understood he had been always loved, but he still chose to leave.
I hope that people around Sulli will stay strong.
@Linh - Thanks for your words. Saying she received no support is quite disrespectful to her family and friends. None of us know what went on behind the public eye. I'd like to think that her friends were there for her as much as friends can be, really, however, friends cannot fight those personal demons of ours, they can only keep us company while we keep our demons at bay for a while. Ultimately, only counseling (psych or otherwise), a deep spiritual commitment to one's faith, or removing oneself completely from the public eye by a life-style change may be enough to help a depressed person fight those demons and win. May her soul rest in peace.
I'm curious because I know that there are certain idols and stars who have been open about mental health issues and even like Jonghyun who had received counseling but are anti-depressant medications not legal in Korea? Sometimes you can have a strong foundation of family and friends and even counseling but it is not enough.
I've seen people who need medication to get them through tough periods, divorce and widowhood as well as people who seemed to have a chemical imbalance. The celebrity lifestyle in Korea is brutal but even if Sulli had been a kindergarten teacher, she would have had the underlying issues from the sound of it. I first saw her in To The Beautiful You and didn't even know she was an idol. It's a crying shame.
@linh Actually I've noticed that Sulli had been hanging out with weird people whom she called 'friends' for quiet a while. Seems like she was not following a very healthy lifestyle. I always thought her condition was rather alarming.
I also have some real life friends who acted almost like Sulli due to depression but counseling and adoption of healthy lifestyle did miracles for them.
I know SM didn't threw her away even after her several 'scandals'. But still did anybody seriously try to 'fix' her? It was like she had been left to her oen devices.
If it was not for using her image for commercial purpose then why did SM let her participate in a show where she was supposed to laugh at hate comments directed at her. I mean her agency, friends or well wishers knew she was depressed then why did they thought it was OK for her to go through such extent of mental pressure.
@Kat antidepressents alone are not enough....also same drug does not universally work for everyone and it takes a while to find what is right for you. Successful patients go through combination of counselling, drugs, sometimes brain wave therapies, excercise regiments etc. Even then it is sometimes a lifelong battle. I just hope industry learns from this. There's Mina of Twice who gets shredded apart for her anxiety and Lee Yoo Young whose agency flat out denied her depression even after her troubling instagram post. The stigma about mental health is huge in SK.
Yes, I am absolutely aware that a multi-pronged approach is best but are meds even on the table in Korea? By this I mean are they legal? I am of a certain age where I have seen so many people struggle and many did get benefit from meds and always therapy as well. Getting the dosage right is key as you said. Oh, and that actress and the whole "nevermind" about her sounding suicidal was horrible.
So Korea, take a long look as to why articles are being written that the birth rate is so low and unless it changes, So Korea will be in serious jeopardy to sustain itself. Why are Korean women choosing not to bear children? Could the high suicide rate have any relationship to the unrealistic demands being placed upon its citizens and the denials surrounding the diagnosing and the treatment of mental illness, particularly depression?
The answers aren’t always so simple. S. Korea has deep society issues with rooted misogyny and impossible standards placed on young female celebrities. She has been attacked mercilessly for being herself because she dared do things her way and NOT aligning to their expectations. RIP Jin-ri and may you be happy and free to be yourself without cares or worries.
Everyone should take a hard look at themselves first as to whether they wrote any spiteful words about this girl prior to her suicide. I clearly remember Ms Koala writing something judgemental about this girl just like her previous post about GHS. Are you all happy now? The whole idol entertainment world in SK needs to be called out. Sulli clearly needed mental health help but never got it. So humane.
@Abc Please don’t bring GHS into this at such a sad painful time.
I agree. Most of the articles that appear on this blog are click bait /top treading headlines from other sites. These articles have demeaning/ hateful comments in the comments section. I am not sure what happened to the koala blog that I used to love when we actually talked about tv shows. I hope this can be a time of self reflection for everyone.
yes. I still remember Ms Koala's interesting and insightful kdrama reviews in the past. Those are now gone... Some recent articles are intended to be click baits and tbh me too fall into the trap. Sigh.