Family, friends and fans mourn the loss of Astro's Moonbin

K-Pop Blog > News> Moonbin / Astro

A few hours ago, Fantagio announced on Twitter and Instagram that Astro's Moonbin passed away suddenly at the age of 25. At the time, it was already the morning of April 20 in South Korea, and about 8 p.m. on April 19 in Europe.

In the statement, Fantagio, Astro's label, expresses grief from everyone involved and asks to respectfully mourn the singer.

Moonbin was born on January 26, 1998, and was known as a child model and child actor at an early age. On February 23, 2016, he made his debut as a member of the boy group Astro, of which he is still a member.

The news spread very quickly and fans shared their grief on social media just minutes later. Nobody expected such news, because until yesterday Moonbin was still planning new performances. In fact, just a few hours before the terrible news, it was confirmed that Moonbin would be performing at the 29th Dream Concert in Busan along with his bandmate Sanha. Moonbin & Sanha form a subunit of Astro. The two just released their third unit album 'Incense' on January 4.

Police are assuming suicide for now, but an autopsy is expected to provide certainty.

Today Fantagio released a new statement to keep fans updated:

According to the statement, Astro's Jinjin and Sanha are watching over Moonbin's wake. Cha Eunwoo is just returning from the United States and MJ, who is currently in the military, has been granted emergency leave to attend Moonbin's wake.

Fantagio stresses that Moonbin's family wants a private wake and funeral. They do not want grieving relatives and friends to be recorded by reporters. We hope that everyone will respect the family's wishes so that they can say goodbye to Moonbin in peace.

Mystic Story, the label from Billlie just announced that the girl group has canceled or postponed all scheduled activities this week.

That's because Moonbin's younger sister Moon Sua is among the members. Billlie presented a new album at the end of March and were still performing in music shows until yesterday. We hope that Moon Sua will take all the time she needs before returning to the stage.

Many other artists and TV shows have also announced to cancel events and postpone activities. Groups like iKon, Xdinary Heroes, Xikers, and Le sserafim who are currently planning a comeback or debut have already announced that they will pause their preparations in the coming days. Other artists like 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 condolences and deepest sympathies to Moonbin's family, friends and fans. We too mourn the talented and kind singer who passed away 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 grieving family who had to part with their beloved son and brother cannot be matched, his colleagues and the staff here at Fantagio who accompanied him for a long time also mourn the deceased in great sorrow.

It pains us even more to have to bring 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, of whom he was constantly thinking, the grief is all the more overwhelming.

In order for the bereaved, who have been thrown into great grief by this sudden tragedy, to respectfully mourn and bid farewell to the deceased, we ask that you refrain from making speculative or malicious reports.

In accordance with the wishes of the bereaved, the funeral will be held as quietly as possible in the presence of family, close friends and colleagues of the agency.

Once again, we wish to express our deep sorrow as the deceased walks his final path.

Sources: Naver, edaily, Twitter & Instagram