I know this seems a little late, as real life got in the way, but this is something that I have to do..
This post is created in solidarity with the greater K-pop community to mourn the passing and to honor the life of ASTRO's Moonbin.
According to news reports, Moonbin was found lifeless in his apartment in Gangnam, Seoul by his manager on April 19th at around 8:10 PM KST. He was 25 years old.
Moonbin is a member of ASTRO (아스트로; Aseuteulo) which started out originally as a 6 member boy group under Fantagio. They debuted on February 23, 2016 and has been quite active ever since. Moonbin also debuted in a subunit with fellow member Sanha on September 14, 2020.
He is survived by his parents and younger sister Moon Sua, the leader of rookie girl group Billlie.
The Moon siblings did a special collaboration stage last June 24, 2022 where they covered Baek Ji Young‘s “Candy In My Ears".
People familiar to this blog may have noted that I generally do not post about boy groups as I do not have an interest in following them (save for a few from the second gen which I came across as I was starting my K-pop journey). I have to be very honest, I did not know about ASTRO until I was introduced to them a couple of years ago by someone close to me who happened to be a total AROHA.
I found their music to be quite pleasant. I didn't really go into a deep dive about the members, but discovered that Moonbin was actually a childhood friend of GFRIEND's SinB, and was often seen guesting on programs with a friend group of fellow '98 liners that included GFRIEND's Umji. He came across as a decent guy who was caring and thoughtful towards his friends, and is very affectionate towards his little sister.
It is always a terrible thing when someone passes away too soon, and the K-pop industry has had its share of painful losses through the past years.. But I cannot recall being as emotionally affected as I am now.. This was so sudden, and so unexpected. The guy was happily watching over the budding career of his sister, and was also doing quite well professionally. He was surrounded by a tight-knit group of friends, and had so much to live for and to look forward to.. 😔 I will refrain from speculations about his passing out of respect, but let it be known that I hold him in high regard, and I pray that his soul will find peace..
We here at K-Pop Catharsis would like to express our sincere condolences to Moonbin's family, fellow ASTRO members, and friends, and stand in solidarity with AROHAs all around the world as they go through this difficult time. We pray that Sua and her family would find solace in the outpouring of love from Moonbin's industry colleagues and the K-pop fans from different countries and fandoms.
Goodbye Moonbin. You shall be missed.
- B. Oppa
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