A few hours ago, Fantagio announced on Twitter and Instagram that Astro’s Moonbin has suddenly passed away at the age of 25. In South Korea it was already the morning of April 20 at that point, in Europe around 8 p.m. on April 19.
In the statement, Fantagio, Astro’s label, expresses the grief of everyone involved and asks that people mourn the singer respectfully.
Moonbin was born on January 26, 1998 and was known from an early age as a child model and child actor. On February 23, 2016, he debuted as a member of the boy group Astro, which he still belongs to today.
The news spread very quickly, and just a few minutes later fans were sharing their grief on social media. Nobody expected such news, because until yesterday Moonbin was still planning new appearances. In fact, it was only confirmed a few hours before the terrible news that Moonbin was set to perform together with his bandmate Sanha at the 29th Dream Concert in Busan. Moonbin & Sanha form a subunit of Astro. The two had only released their third unit album ‘Incense’ on January 4.
For now, the police are assuming suicide, but an autopsy is meant to provide certainty.
Today, Fantagio released a new statement to keep fans up to date:
According to the statement, Astro’s Jinjin and Sanha are keeping watch over Moonbin’s wake. Cha Eunwoo is currently returning from the United States, and MJ, who is currently in the military, has been granted emergency leave to attend Moonbin's wake.
Fantagio emphasizes that Moonbin’s family wishes for a private wake and funeral. They do not want the grieving relatives and friends to be photographed or filmed by reporters. We hope that everyone respects the family’s wishes so that they can say goodbye to Moonbin in peace.
Mystic Story, Billlie’s label, has just announced that the girl group has canceled or postponed all scheduled activities this week.
This is because Moonbin’s younger sister Moon Sua is one of its members. Billlie presented a new album at the end of March and were still performing on music shows until yesterday. We hope that Moon Sua takes all the time she needs before she returns to the stage.
Many other artists and TV shows have also announced that they are canceling events and postponing activities. Groups such as iKon, Xdinary Heroes, Xikers and Le sserafim, who are currently planning a comeback or debut, have already announced that they will pause their preparations over the next few days. Other artists such as Younite, ITZY and IU are also postponing interviews and planned content. Others will surely follow.
In these difficult hours, we would like to express our sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to Moonbin’s family, friends and fans. We, too, mourn the talented and likeable singer who has left us far too soon.
Below, we have translated Fantagio’s first statement for you:
This is Fantagio.
First of all, we would like to apologize for having to deliver this sad and heartbreaking news.
On April 19, ASTRO member Moonbin suddenly left us and has now become a star in the sky.
Although the grief of the mourning family, who had to part with their beloved son and brother, cannot be compared to anything, his colleagues and the staff here at Fantagio, who accompanied him for a long time, are also mourning the deceased in deep dismay.
It pains us even more that we have to deliver this sudden news to the fans who loved and supported Moonbin unconditionally. Knowing all too well how incomparable the deceased [Moonbin] was in his love for his fans, whom he constantly thought of, the grief is all the more overwhelming.
So that the bereaved, who have been plunged into deep sorrow by this sudden tragedy, can mourn the deceased respectfully and say goodbye to him, we ask you to refrain from speculative or malicious reports.
In accordance with the wishes of the bereaved, the funeral will take place as quietly as possible in the presence of the family, close friends and colleagues from the agency.
We would like to once again express our deep sorrow as the deceased goes on his final journey.
Sources: Naver, edaily, Twitter & Instagram
