The lifeless body of South Korean singer Choi Sung-bong has been found today at his home in the Yeoksam neighborhood, one of the most affluent areas of the Gangnam district of Seoul, according to local police. The police report points to suicide as the cause of death.
Choi Sung-bong grew up on the streets and worked in construction when he auditioned for the first edition of the TV show “Korea’s got talent” in 2011, shocking the world with his spectacular baritone voice. The video began to circulate on YouTube and today accumulates hundreds of millions of views.
Before singing the song Nella fantasia by Il Divo, which moved the audience and the judges, the singer explained how he grew up on the streets of Daejeon, a city south of Seoul, after running away from the orphanage where he was five years old and He managed to get his school degree (without having gone to school) and study high school. Choi came second in this first edition of the tvN network program and later signed a record deal, releasing an EP in 2014. He achieved great success globally, including Spain, where he came as a guest at El Hormiguero.
However, in October 2021, his image completely changed after publicly admitting that he had faked various types of terminal cancer to attract donations to produce an album. Choi apologized and promised to return all the money received.
The singer published a text yesterday Tuesday on his YouTube channel, in which he once again asked for forgiveness and stated that he had returned the money “to those who had asked for it” and that he was going to pay for his “sins” with his own life.
South Korea is the OECD country with the highest suicide rate, a serious problem that has plagued many in the South Korean entertainment industry.
