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K-pop stars carry SHINee singer's coffin after suicide

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/12/21/122117_shinee.jpg"/><figcaption>A portrait and the coffin of Kim Jong-hyun, the lead singer of top South Korean boy band SHINee, is carried during his funeral at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, December 21, 2017. <em>Kim Hong-Ji, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SEOUL, South Korea - Six of K-pop&#x27;s biggest stars carried the coffin of fellow singer Kim Jong-Hyun to a hearse Thursday, after he died leaving behind a suicide note that spoke of his battle with loneliness and depression.</p><p>Kim&#x27;s body was taken to his funeral from the Asan Medical Centre in Seoul where it had been lying at rest.</p><p>The procession was led by one of Kim&#x27;s bandmates from SHINee -- one of the country&#x27;s top boy bands -- dressed in black bearing a plaque topped by a crucifix and reading &quot;Kim Jong-Hyun, believer.&quot;</p><p>His sister followed, tears coursing down her cheeks as she carried a picture of Kim in a dark wooden frame, smiling at the camera with his hair dyed a light brown.</p><p>The coffin was carried by the three other surviving SHINee band members and three from Super Junior, another boy band managed by the same agency.</p><p>The celebrities bowed their heads and prayed while waiting for the hearse, a black Lincoln limousine, to leave the building, as people at the back sang Christian hymns.</p><p>Despite harsh winter weather, weeping fans in jackets, hats, scarves and masks waited outside for the vehicle to leave.</p><p>They cried even harder as the hearse passed them by.</p><p>Kim, 27, was found in a hotel room in Seoul on Monday in what police said was suicide.</p><p>A coal briquette was burning on a frying pan -- a common method of self-killing in South Korea, an ultra-competitive society with one of the world&#x27;s highest suicide rates.</p><p>Kim&#x27;s close friend, musician Nain9, released his suicide note on her Instagram account, saying he had asked her to publish the message in the event of his death.</p><p>&quot;I am broken from inside. The depression that gnawed on me slowly has finally engulfed me entirely,&quot; it said.</p><p>&quot;I was so alone,&quot; he went on. &quot;Please tell me I did a good job,&quot; he implored.</p><p>Five-member SHINee debuted in 2008 and went on to lead the &quot;Korean Wave&quot; that saw South Korean pop culture develop a fan base across Asia and beyond.</p><p>Known for peppy songs and carefully-choreographed dance numbers performed with military precision, they have released five albums that swept charts at home and abroad, with some reaching Number 1 on the US Billboard World Albums chart.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><em>Editor&#x27;s note:</em></div><div><em>A group in the Philippines is dedicated to addressing those who have suicidal tendencies.</em></div><div><em>The crisis hotlines of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation aim to make these individuals feel that someone is ready to listen to them.</em></div><div><em>These are their hotline numbers:</em></div><div><strong>Information and Crisis Intervention Center</strong></div><p>(02) 804-HOPE (4673)<br/>0917-558-HOPE (4673) or (632) 211-4550<br/>0917-852-HOPE (4673) or (632) 964-6876<br/>0917-842-HOPE (4673) or (632) 964-4084</p><div><strong>In Touch Crisis Lines:</strong></div><p>0917-572-HOPE or (632) 211-1305<br/>(02) 893-7606 (24/7)<br/>(02) 893-7603 (Mon-Fri, 9 am-5 pm)<br/>Globe (63917) 800.1123 or (632) 506.7314<br/>Sun (63922) 893.8944 or (632) 346.8776</p>

<p>Six of K-pop's biggest stars carried the coffin of fellow singer Kim Jong-Hyun to a hearse Thursday, after he died leaving behind a suicide note that spoke of his battle with loneliness and depression.</p>

Six of K-pop's biggest stars carried the coffin of fellow singer Kim Jong-Hyun to a hearse Thursday, after he died leaving behind a suicide note that spoke of his battle with loneliness and depression.