K-Pop Star Sulli Found Dead At 25

K-pop singer and actress Sulli was found dead Monday. 

Kim Seong-tae, an official from the Seongnam Sujeong Police Department, told the Associated Press that the 25-year-old was discovered on the second floor of her home in Sujeong-gu, Seongnam, near South Korea’s capital, Seoul.

Sulli’s manager told authorities the singer hadn’t responded to phone calls for hours. He’d last spoken with her on Sunday. 

“The investigation is ongoing and we won’t make presumptions about the cause of death,” said Kim, adding that surveillance footage at the home showed no signs of an intrusion. Despite conflicting reports, Kim told the AP that authorities did not find a note at the scene

Sulli’s management company, SM Entertainment, called her death “very hard to believe and sorrowful” in a statement cited by Consequence of Sound.

The singer, whose real name is Choi Jin-ri, rocketed to fame in 2009 as a member of K-pop group f(x). She opted to focus on a solo career after the release of the band’s fourth album, “4 Walls,” in 2015.

Earlier this year, Sulli released a solo single, “Goblin.” She was also a formidable actress, appearing in Korean films like 2014’s “The Pirates” and 2017’s “Real.” She was also attached to the series “Persona” for Netflix. 

In recent years, Sulli had come to be known for her feminist voice in the South Korean entertainment industry. At times, she did not wear a bra, calling it a matter of “one’s freedom.”

Last year, she revealed on the reality TV show “Jinri Store” that she’d begun suffering panic disorders at a young age. 

“Even close people left me,” she said at the time. “I was hurt by them and felt there was nobody who understands me, which made me fall apart.”

Former bandmate Amber J. Liu responded to the news of her death on Twitter. 

Fans around the world also shared their condolences on social media.