Korean pop star and actress Sulli, a member of the seminal girl group f(x) that helped popularize the K-pop phenomenon, has died at age 25.
Her manager found her body on Monday morning in her home near Seoul, South Korea, authorities told CNN. “So far, it seems she killed herself, but we will leave all possibilities open and investigate,” a police official said.
The performer, whose real name is Choi Jin-ri, made her name as a child actress before joining f(x) in 2009. She left the group in 2015 to focus on acting but also continued to release music as a solo artist, including the single “Goblin” in June of this year.
As an actress, she starred in the 2017 film “Real” and in “Pirates.” She recently completed work on the TV show “Hotel Del Luna” for tvN, and was attached to “Persona” for Netflix.
Sulli also spoke out repeatedly about cyber-bullying, including the criticism she faced for sometimes not wearing a bra in photo shoots and telling fans they had a choice about how to show off their own bodies, the BBC reported.
According to the BBC, she was also a close friend of K-pop star Jonghyun, who died by suicide in 2017 at age 27.